Angry Fires Burn Furiously
by NY GE Pyromaniac
Summary: Takes place after TLS and is PyroOC. It's basically a love story with the backdrop of a war. You know: the usual. Rated for language and content. R&R plz! TX! It has become the first installment to a trilogy that I'm working on. LAST CHAP HAS LEMON IN IT!
1. They're Not All Good

**Disclaimer:** _If I owned anything (especially Pyro) I'd have him running around in some tight ass jeans and a muscle shirt constantly unless he was naked and then he'd stay that way. Anyways, don't sue me because I own nothing except Alexandra, her family, theirs mutations and her mutation._

**_Angry Fires Burn Furiously_**

_**Chapter One:**_ **They're Not All Good **

**_Alexandra's POV_**

_"¡Alexandra, ven aquí! (Alexandra, come over here!) I need to show you something," my cousin, Eduardo, yelled from down the hall. I put down my copy of "The Outsiders" and hopped off my bed. I stretched a bit before exiting my room and heading down the hall to my brother's room where my cousin was rummaging through a couple of old boxes. Normally I'd have kicked anyone out of my brother's room because he's strict about no one being in there, but I made an exception for Eduardo. He's my favorite cousin off of my mom's side along with his two brothers and our youngest cousin, Anthony. Actually, that's my mom's whole side. Notice something? _

_"¿Qué quieres? Estaba leyendo y me quitaste del libro más interesante del mundo. (What do you want? I was reading and you took me away from the most interesting book in the world.)"_

_"Stop exaggerating and come here and help me with these," Eduardo said, lifting one box off of the floor and carrying it over to my brother's bed. "I swear you should be an actress with how much you over exaggerate some shit. You'd be the perfect Latin actress: famous for being an embellisher." He smiled at me and I couldn't help but laugh at his insult to me. _

_"You're just mad because you're too ugly to be on TV," I retorted and smiled sheepishly when he turned to me, giving me an angry look. _

_"What did you just say?" he asked, trying to keep his face the way it was. That's the thing about my mom's side of the family: because I'm the only girl I get treated special…I almost get spoiled. Sure, sometimes they treat me like I'm the baby even though I'm not, but that's all good as long as they realize that I'm not when it's necessary for them to do so. Don't get it twisted, being the only girl on this side of my family has it's perks like almost being spoiled by all the guys, but it's not like I'm some little girl that never did an honest day's work in her life and doesn't know the meaning of a good work ethic. That's something that comes along with having four boy cousins and a brother in a family like mine: you never stop working because there's always something that needs to be done and that's when we all become equals. There's no doubt, however, that I'm definitely the center of attention in my family sometimes and not only because I love to act and put on a show, but also for another reason…._

_"You mad at me, Eduardo?" I asked timidly to strike a cord in his heart and make him feel bad. I feel so evil when I do that._

_He knew as well as I did that he could never be mad at me so his face was screwed up for a minute as he tried to keep it from inevitably turning into a smirk and then a smile. Soon he was full out laughing. "You, know me too well."_

_"Yeah, I do. Now what did you need me to help you with?" I asked._

_He pointed to the second box on the floor and said, "Bring that here and put it on the bed."_

_I nodded and lifted the box, light as could be, and placed it on the bed. "You couldn't do that yourself?" I asked, giving him a weird look. _

_He smirked, leaned against my brother's bureau and crossed his arms. "Open it," he said, gesturing to the box and smiled a wide and toothy smile. That definitely came from his dad's side of the family because I had the same smile…when I felt like smiling._

_I scrunched my brow in confusion and slowly – almost tentatively opened the box. Once the last flap was lifted, I looked into the box and saw a bunch of foam peanuts. "What the fuck? What's up with the foam peanuts?"_

_He rolled his eyes and said, "Look through them, dumbass." _

_I stuck my tongue out at him and began sifting through the peanuts. Soon I found a small box that jewelry is usually sold in and I smiled at him. "What is it?"_

_He walked over and took the box from me before opening it to reveal a gorgeous – it had to be sixteen karat – gold bracelet that had three little charms hanging off of it. "Happy sweet sixteen, niña. Espero que te guste. (I hope you like it.)" He then took the bracelet out of the box and helped me put it on. It was gorgeous. The little charms were of the peace sign circle thing, a heart and the letter 'A'._

_I stared at the bracelet in awe and then up at him for a good minute before jumping on him and almost suffocating him with a huge hug. "Oh my God! It's gorgeous, Eduardo. Thank you so much!"_

_He laughed a little and said, "No problem. Glad you like it s much because it cost me a fortune."_

_I stared at him and was almost drowned in guilt. "Are you serious? Then take it back and just give me a twenty."_

_He shook his head and said, "You really are slow, aren't you?"_

_It took me a minute to process what he'd said and then I smiled at him. "So, you made me lift that heavy ass box to give me my gift?" I asked, making huge gesticulations and almost smacking him once. "You should be ashamed of yourself."_

_He rolled his eyes and tackled me onto the bed. "Come here, you little ingrate. I swear, you are so spoiled," he said, laughing so hard that his face turned red despite his rich caramel complexion. _

_I was tickle-tortured by him for a few minutes before I gave up and said, "Alright, I give up! I give up! You win! Just please stop. I need air!"_

_He got off of me and then pulled me off the bed and dragged me down the stairs of my two-story house and into my living room. His brothers were there, just sitting on the couch while my brother tortured my younger cousin with a bowl of popcorn. Anthony was on the phone, most like talking to his girl or a friend and my brother was tossing popcorn at him every few seconds. _

_"Yo, I'm gonna go chill at the park with some people, alright? I'll be back in time for lunch," I said to my brother so he wouldn't flip out later, wondering where I was. _

_"Okay, don't get lost or kidnapped or nothing. Oh, and don't use it unless you absolutely need to," he said, turning to me and pointing an accusing finger at me._

_"Well, which part?"_

_"All of it. I mean it, Alexandra. We don't need people knowing what you are and trying to kill you."_

_I rolled my eyes and said, "Yeah, whatever. Thanks for the gift Eduardo. I love it." I gave him a kiss on the cheek and left for the park. _

_I hated when my brother got that way: like he was scared I'd get killed or something if I even let it slip that I was a mutant. I mean, could all humans really be that bad? I didn't think so and that's why I hated it so much that my family could think so. I mean, yeah they've had bad experiences but that's because they never knew what to do with their abilities. They always started fights and finished them in a bad way. Someone always ended up in the hospital. But at least they never ended up in a lab or in jail like the other mutants. That's all that mattered I guess. _

_I continued walking to the park and I was at the corner of my block when I heard some fast footfalls and someone yelling, "Over here. They live here!" I turned around slowly and saw a group of teens in all in black, running to my house and up the driveway. They were carrying guns…guns like the ones I saw on the news a few months back when that whole mutant thing happened down at Alcatraz. I squinted a little to see who it was that was at the door to my house and my heart fell into my stomach when I saw who it was: Friends of Humanity. _

_I don't even remember thinking that I had to run to my house and warn my family, but faster than I could even blink I was running up the block at breakneck speed screaming at the top of my lungs, "Get out of the house! Get out of the house! They wanna kill you! Get the fuck out of the house!" _

_The young teens turned to face me and then they looked back at the house, aiming their guns._

_The door to my house opened and out stepped my younger cousin, Anthony. _

_It all went in slow motion: he look around and saw the young, gun wielding members of the Friends of Humanity and then saw me. Before he could even step back inside, the boy in the middle said, "Say your prayers, scum," before pulling the trigger and pumping Anthony full of lead._

I sat bolt straight up in my bed in a cold sweat and slapped my face lightly to see if I was awake or still asleep. "Oh thank God! It's just a dream."

"Yeah, a dream of what really happened, Alexandra," came a voice from the door to my room.

I looked up and saw Anthony, staring at me as he juggled a couple of balls of light that shadowed his face in such a way that he looked almost menacing. But the kid is sweet as candy so you'd never even believe that he was evil if you knew him. I nodded and said, "Yeah, I know, shorty. I don't need a reminder." I hopped out of bed and asked, "Was I screaming again?"

He nodded and I pushed past him to go down the halls to the kitchen to get a glass of water. "Well, that didn't mean that I needed to be told once again that it was a memory dream," I said angrily.

"Sorry, but it's just a little weird that you don't want to talk about it. I mean, you're the one who always thought that mutants should forgive the humans that did us wrong. You're being a hypocrite," he said, following me to the kitchen and around it as I got a glass and filled it with water.

I almost chocked on the water at what he said. I stared up at him, since he was about a head taller than me and tried hard as hell to keep myself from slapping him. "Don't you _dare_ call me a hypocrite," I said, slamming the glass down on the counter and drawing myself up to his height. "Don't you _dare_! They almost killed you, Anthony! Do you get that? _They…almost…killed…you!_ How am I supposed to forgive that? I'd forgive them for killing _me_ before I even thought of forgiving them for killing you or anyone in my family for hat matter."

He stood rooted to the spot and just said, "Wow…. But I just thought that you were always the one who could do something like that…forgive them for almost killing me, I mean. 'Cause you always said that not all humans were bad." His eyes, a gorgeous emerald color, shown bright in the dark even more so than usual now because he was worried or scared or something intense. But it was scarier now because they were already pretty bright due to his mutation. He could control the amount of light that was in a room with his power. It allowed him to either absorb or release light into an area. He could also take the light that he absorbed or already had in him and form it into anything his mind thought of, which allowed for more fun than you would think. That's why it was pitch black dark at the moment. He was absorbing the light that reflected off the marble countertops and tile floors from the moon. The fact that he was always afraid of the dark made his mutation so much funnier than it would have been if he weren't.

I shook my head, ruffled his hair and began walking back to my room while saying, "Yeah, but they're not all good either." There was a moment of silence as I pushed the kitchen door open and then asked, "You comin' or what?"

"Yeah, I am," he said before there was an increase in luminosity.

We both walked the halls of my new house and when we reached our rooms (there was no way I was letting my cousins and brother live alone after that shit happened) and my hand was on the doorknob, I couldn't help but wonder aloud, "Can you believe it's already been four years?"

His room was right across from mine and I heard his hand touch the knob before he paused to think and then said, "No…it seems shorter."

"Everything seems shorter to you," I said, almost angrily because it was true. Every time you asked him about anything that had to do with time it was always too short for him.

"That's how it is when you almost die…. Everything gets shorter…life is no exception," he said as if he were scolding me before he opened his door and went inside.

I shook my head and whispered toy myself, "He didn't die…. Stop acting like he did."

"Can you ever stop acting like he did when it was those pieces of shit that almost killed him," came a voice from the hallway window to my left.

* * *

**Hey, I hope you liked it. Sorry this chapter didn't really tell you much and sorry for the slight cliffhanger (even though some of you might already know who it is). Anyways, let me know what you thought of this chapter in a review. Constructive criticism is welcome and for those of you who like to leave flames - don't. If you have nothing nice to say then don't say anything at all - always remember that. Aight, pplz. I g2g so I'll write some more later. Abrazos y besos para todos.**

**1,**

**NY GE Pyromaniac**


	2. Reliving The Past

**To my reviewers: I'm glad you guys liked the first chapter and I hope you like this one. Sorry it took longer than I anticipated for it to be updated but if you've ever had a final or a regent in your life you know what the weeks before them are like. So tx for being patient with me and enjoy.**

**_Chapter Two: _Reliving the Past **

_**John's POV** _

**_(An hour before Alexandra woke up)_ **

It was two o'clock in the morning and I was bugging out. I'd just downed about half a bottle of straight vodka and I had not eaten dinner so I was tipsier than I'd have been normally. While staggering up the stoop to the Magneto's hideout, I heard a swift movement of something pass my ear. My delayed reactions made it so that I responded to it about a minute later asking, "Who's there?"

No answer.

I shrugged and just continued to stagger up the stairs and when I got to the door I put the key into the keyhole and hesitated for a second, remembering how it went last time I came home drunk. Mags had flipped out like a maniac. He had me on lock down for a month and gave all my missions to Mystique, who only rubbed it in my face that I was on lock down. That was a few years back though and Mystique was gone now…sure as hell pissed the fuck off at Mags for doing what he did after she risked herself for him. Hey, I'd be pissed too if I did that…. But that's the difference between Mystique and I: she's been with Mags so long that she'd give life and limb for him when I've only been on his side for about a year…I'm not even sure I wanna do my laundry in the same load as his let alone have to swear my life to him. No way. But I could never say that to his face though. Maybe it's because he takes care of me or because he's becoming more than just a mentor to me, but I feel things between Mags and I are changing.

_Swoosh._

I jumped and used the flamethrower to summon a fireball to my hand while I looked around me like a squirrel looks for his nuts: jumpy. When I heard nothing else after a while, I just extinguished the fireball and went to turn the key in the keyhole. As soon as I turned I was met with a swift punch to the face by what appeared to be a blue fist. Only one thought lingered before I blacked out: Mystique.

_**Alexandra's POV** _

I jumped at the sound of this man's voice and turned quickly to face him, taking a fighter's stance. "Who are you?" I asked, squinting a little to see whom it was but couldn't due to the fact that he was shrouded in shadow produced by the moon shinning from behind him.

"Your new best friend," the man said, stepping in through the window and walking up to me.

Normally I'd have already started attacking him, but something about his demeanor kept me from doing so. Something he radiated from the moment I heard his voice made me a little scared of him. This made me even more scared because it's been four years since I've been scared of something and for someone to make me scared with one sentence was unsettling. But the last four years have taught me something through the forms of my cousins and brother: never show that you're scared because it could kill you.

"Yeah? What makes you say that?" I asked, letting my stance down to show that I no longer considered him a threat…that may have been a mistake but I was willing to make it to keep my dignity.

"Still angry about what happened four years ago?" he asked and made my heart skip a beat when he did.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, trying to hide my shock and knowing I couldn't for long.

He tilted his head to the side and said, "Oh, yes you do. Remember when the humans almost killed your cousin? Remember when they almost killed your whole family? Remember when you almost killed them?"

I was breathing deeply and unevenly now, anger rising in me like a beast that's been awoken after a millennia of sleep and is hungry. "Shut up. You don't know what you're doing. Just shut up."

He chuckled and stepped closer to me, leaving only about an inch of space between us and asking, "Want to get them back for it? Want to make them pay?"

I stared ahead of me for a minute, letting the anger build up inside me some more and finally just letting go. It was like a raging fire was burning inside me and it had finally burned through the metal of a kerosene tank.

I didn't even know that I could ever be that angry, but I proved that I could when the man flew back into the wall and cracked it so that it almost molded him. I gasped and lost concentration on the hold I had on him and he fell with a loud clang to the floor due to his weird looking helmet falling off.

"My, my. You _are_ a strong one. No wonder Charles was so hesitant to look for you," he said, getting up and picking up his helmet. "It's a miracle he doesn't want to recruit you for himself and make you one of his junior X-Men or that he hasn't even come to you offering help control your powers."

"What're you babbling about? Who's Charles? Why are you here and why were you trying to piss me off?" I asked, going on a rant and almost losing it again.

"You _are_ Alexandra Calderon, are you not?" he asked, walking back over to me.

_This guy really can take a beating can't he?_

"Yeah and? What's it to ya? What do you want with me?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and putting all my weight on one side of my body.

"You really have no idea how valuable you are, do you?" he asked, searching me with his eyes as if he were looking to see if he could use that against me in any other way than just trying to get me to be on his side by flattering me. "You don't know what you can do for us, do you?"

I stared at him for a while, just taking in his appearance. He wore what seemed to be a weird sort of insolated suit and a red almost burgundy cape over that with that weird helmet. He seemed to be a bit off his rocker, but the way he spoke to me and the way he seemed to really want me to listen to what he had to say made me believe my instincts in telling me that he was wearing that for a reason and that that reason might be that he's one of my kind. It made me believe that he wasn't here to hurt me, but to help me. Or he could've been there to hurt me…. I didn't know, but I always went with my gut feeling and it made my life easier and go better off so that's what I was going to do now: go with my gut and listen to him.

"No…. What – no why am I worth something to you and this _Charles_?" I asked and I let the nasty emphasis on the other man's name linger because from the simple statement that this man made about him made me want to slap him already and I never even met him. I don't like it when people try to push their way into running your life by fabricating some story about helping you. _Maybe this guy is trying to do that very same thing_, I thought as I waited for a response from the man.

"Your power – the ability to bring back the dead and visa versa – it has so much potential, child. Do you know how many people would give life and limb for just one last glance at their passed loved ones? Imagine what they'd give if they could have them back…. You could have this world eating out of the palm of your hand if you wanted to…. Of course, this is only if the other part of your mutation doesn't stop you from properly using this part…. You have trouble with that, don't you? It's the reason you learned to fight instead of just perfecting your mutation…why you hate humans with a passion because you know that you could kill them in a split second for doing what they did to you and your and family, but you're stopping yourself from doing it because you can't control half of your powers…."

"How could you possibly know this?" I asked after a few seconds of staring at him, my mouth agape.

"What, did you really think that in all those doctors' visits no one caught on? There're drawers full of files on you, Alexandra. Don't you remember those nice doctors giving you candy every time you brought back someone they showed you a picture of – someone _dead_? Or even when they asked you to make them fly like Peter Pan? No, I guess you don't. You were too young…. But you _do_ remember what you had to do four years ago, don't you? You remember the pain you suffered when you watched them die and the psychological damage it did to you when you had to bring them all back. You remember the trauma you had to go through convincing yourself that they'd never died, right? All the pain and exhaustion when you just gave up, went to sleep and then woke up the next day and all of it was gone?"

I stood there, feeling numb. I, in all honesty, couldn't ever remember what the hell happened during those visits when I was younger. I just always thought I was really sick because I was told that your X-gene, if you have one, doesn't awaken until puberty. I didn't even remember what he just told me happened, but at that moment, everything came rushing back in a flood….

_Anthony fell in slow motion, blood spilling from the three holes in his chest and staining his pure white shirt a crimson color that soon turned black as he lay there. He was dying, the blood pooling around him, sucking him in like he was nothing and stealing that special glint in his dancing eyes. _

_"Anthony! No!" I screamed and ran up the rest of the way up the block to my house and the up the driveway. I didn't even acknowledge that the teens were now pointing their guns at me and were about to shoot. All I saw was them flying in midair a second later and landing hard across the street. _

_The rest of my cousins and my brother came out of the house at the sound of gunshots and screaming and saw Anthony on the ground, still being stolen by the crimson pool around him. Eduardo stared at him, his breathing becoming fast and uneven and then stopping completely when he looked up and saw what I hadn't because I was too busy looking at them for help. _

_"Move, Alexandra!" he yelled, jumping from where he stood and pushing me to the floor before I heard a loud gunshot and felt something wet soak through my shirt and touch my skin. _

_I looked down at my side and saw blood being absorbed by my shirt and then I looked over at my cousin. _

_He was on the ground, convulsing and coughing up blood. There was a huge wound in his chest and it was gushing – no _splattering_ blood everywhere. _

_I stared at him, twitching and coughing, until he died and I couldn't feel anymore. I wanted to feel something so badly, but I couldn't. I wanted to be angry. I wanted to be sad. I wanted to be pissed the fuck off beyond any kind of belief you could ever have…but I couldn't. I just sat there, staring as the rest of them tried to do something. _

_My brother tried to use his mutation to pull electricity from the electromagnetic field that surrounded our satellite dish, but as he reached up toward the dish one of the teens (couldn't have been much older than me) took the opening and shot him. _

_I wanted to throw up. I don't even know what happened to the other two because I just sat there and stared at my brother as he went down in shock. I mean, how could he be taken down? He was the fucking wall of Jericho! How the hell was I supposed to survive if he didn't? He was the one who always protected me and now he was gone! I just sat there, hearing yells and screams but not listening to them until I felt something cold touch my temple. It was one of the teens holding a gun to my head and telling me to get up. _

_"Get the fuck up, bitch! Get up!" he yelled again when I didn't respond. _

_I turned to face them, feeling the dried blood that had splattered on my face a few seconds before crack when I did, and stared at them…. Did they really think they were going to live past this moment? I didn't and the fact that they were still pointing their guns at me and threatening me after just killing my family was hilarious to me. So I just burst out laughing. Oh, how insane they must've thought I was after a minute or so._

_"Hey, have you cracked, kid?" one of them asked, poking me with his gun. _

_I only laughed harder and stood up, staggering and straightening myself up by grabbing onto one of them. He squirmed out of my grip and I laughed hardest at that: he was disgusted by me…. He'd just killed my brother and four of my cousins and I disgusted him. Do you see something wrong with this picture? _

_"C'mon, Parker, she's lost it. Just shoot her and get it over with," said the one that shot Anthony and my brother. _

_The one that shot the other two nodded and aimed at me. _

_I immediately stopped laughing and said, "You've got to be kidding me. Yeah right." _

_There' something I have to explain about my powers before I continue with this. My power consists of two parts that to some seem to have a connection and none to others. I have a physical part: the bringing back of the dead and visa versa and also a psychic part. I don't really know how or why I got this power, but I've had it ever since I was a small child along with the other part. This is why I was always at the doctor's as a kid and why I was being studied. I guess they wanted to know not only what my abilities were, but also how they worked in sync with each other. I honestly don't know what ever became of those studies because one day my parents stopped taking me to the doctor's. So, it's still a mystery to me and everyone how my powers work with each other because they've yet to do so, but they work just fine separately and that was good enough for me…until now. _

_I felt myself grow in strength and I didn't where it was coming from until the three teens were being lifted into the air and were promptly slammed back down onto the ground. I walked closer to them and one by one, let the flow of energy become shifted, which allowed for my energy and life to stay in me while theirs slowly and visibly flowed into me. That's how my ability worked: I could shift the flow of energy from organism to organism that was always unnoticeable to most and cause it to speed up as much as I wanted it to be sped up and become noticeable. I've never really used it much before this time and never have I used it to make anyone suffer but they'd gone too far and I was just evening up the score. _

_About ten minutes later, they were all lying on the ground, dead and I was working on releasing the energy I'd taken from them and transferring into my brother and cousins. It was weird though, having to bring them back. I mean, I just saw them killed and then they were all stretching twenty minutes later and talking about how pissed off they were now. _

_"Do you see now, __niña? Do you see what we mean?" my cousin asked me as I sat there and watched them, trying to calm myself. _

_I was still so angry and I knew that if I didn't calm down, I'd kill them all again or maybe send them flying somewhere. "Yeah, I get it now…. It's just…I never knew anyone could be so…_mean_ for lack of a better word," I said, moving over of the stairs so he could sit down. "I just thought there were exceptions to the stereotypes, you know?" _

_He shook his head and said, "There are, but not around here…. This is suburbia, sweetie, not the ghetto. We can't be what we are down here. We have to hide it." _

_I nodded and said, "Yeah, I guess so." _Man, when the hell did _anyone_ become an exception to the Declaration?_ I thought to myself as I let the anger rise in me again. _

_Eduardo stared as a garden decoration floated by and flew into the wall of the house. He then pulled me into a hug and said, "It's okay, Alexandra. It'll be okay." _

_I was so sure I could believe him and that scared me because he and my brother were the only ones I could ever really count on to make me feel better about things like this. But I just couldn't bring myself to trust that statement. Would everything really be okay? Those Friends of Humanity people and the cops and eventually some support group that the neighborhood drags up in time due to the 'rising mutant pandemic' would hunt us now. We'd never be safe again and I knew it. So I decided then and there whose side I was on. No more benefit of the doubt for the humans and no more looking down upon my own kind for doing what we do. I now knew why we had to fight and why we even had to kill…. I understood and I wanted nothing more than to join in on it because I needed a way o vent now. Just killing those fuckers wasn't enough for me…. No, I'd make them all pay for what they've done…all of them…. _

"They all died…they died," I whispered. "I…I…brought them back."

The man nodded and said, "See? Do you remember now? Do you remember the childlike trust you had in them being broken the minute that trigger was pulled?"

I just stood there, trying to remember anything else but to no avail. I just couldn't for the life of me remember those doctor's visits. Had I really made someone fly of my own control? Had I once been able to control both parts of my powers? _Was I able to make them work together too?_

A minute and then two passed with no sound and then there was the sound of a door creaking open and then the voice of my brother asking, "Alexandra, what are you doing up? Go to sleep."

I jumped and a few trinkets fell from the hallway table near my bedroom door.

"Calm down, it's just me. I wanted some – Alexandra, what hell? Who is that?" he asked and in one swift movement raising his hand and pulling unseen electricity from the light bulbs above.

"I am Eric Lehnsherr, but you may call me Magneto," the man said, stepping forward and not even taking a fighting stance. He was really fearless. I admired that and feared it at the same time.

"Who? Wait! Magneto? Are you serious? What're you doing here? What do you want? Alexandra, did he touch you?"

Magneto scoffed and said, "I am _not_ here to molest your sister, Cesar. In fact, since you know who I am maybe you know what I'm here for."

I looked at my brother and wondered how he knew who this guy was. I racked my brain for a minute as I waited for my brother to respond and then it hit me. "Oh shit! You're that guy who too that bridge to Alcatraz, aren't you?" I asked, looking up at him in awe. I wasn't going to lie, that shit was hot.

He smirked and said, "Yes, I am. Now, the reason I'm here is because I need more comrades on my side of this war between not only humans and mutants but also subgroups of mutants."

"Huh?" I asked, feeling confused and wondering what the hell he meant by what he'd just said.

"Well, the best way I can explain it is that there're mutants who're fighting war in one way and others who do it in another way. My group, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, fights for us by any means necessary while another group called the X-Men try to pacify those filth breeders they call our brothers and sisters for what they do and then when something like what happened to them about five years ago they do _nothing_," he said, his voice rising and falling at certain points signaling he was fairly angry about this.

"Oh…."

"What does 'by any means necessary' include?" my brother asked, stepping closer and dissipating the ball of electricity he'd made.

"Anything to get what we want," said Magneto.

"And you're looking for recruits?" I asked, trying to seize my chance at a way to get back at the humans. This might've been a bad idea in hindsight. But I was working purely on instinct and not intellect.

He nodded and said, "Anyone who wants remuneration for all they've suffered can join." He was making the whole thing sound like it was some big business proposition and that's most likely where I should've seen what was coming, but I was too blind and stupid and it didn't get any better as I went along.

"What d'you think, C? Angry enough to go along with him?"

"Are you?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow and staring at me as if trying to figure me before I could.

"More than you could ever know," I said and nodded. "I'm with you, Magneto…but only if my brother and cousins are with you, too." I looked at my brother and pleaded with my eyes for him to join in as well.

He sighed and said, "Fine, I'm in. I'll go wake the rest of them."

I smiled and watched him walk away. Then a thought hit me. "Hey, in one of those threats you made a while back after the Alcatraz thing and the 'cure' I saw a kid not much older than me. He had blonde hair and he was making fireballs in the background. What happened to him? You called him your 'esteemed apprentice' and I was just wondering what you were doing without him."

He sighed and said, "That's what your first mission as a Brotherhood member will be: to find him. He'd been out and drinking as usual (he swears I am oblivious to what happens in my own home) and I noticed that he hadn't tried to sneak back in at his usual three in the morning and then I went to the front door to see if he was passed out on the front lawn or something, but instead I found a note from an old comrade."

"Yeah? What did it say?" I asked.

"It said that if I wanted to see him alive again, I'd meet her at her hideout and make a deal with her in order to get him back in exchange for a favor," he said, his eyes getting this look that shown with pride. "She's smart that one. Mystique always knew what would make a person give into her."

"Wait, I thought you two were comrades. How come she wants to threaten you?"

"Four years ago, she took a bullet for me…it held the cure in it and she became human…. I left her behind when she asked for help. She then told the government all that I was planning to do and tried to stop me from succeeding but the X-Men beat her to that."

"You're mad grimy. How're you gonna say she's your comrade and then abandon her when she needs you?"

"She was human and I didn't know that the cure wasn't permanent," he said.

I nodded and said, "Alright…. So, what's this favor she asked of you?"

"She needs someone with influential status to get a message across."

"So she's basically asking to be back on the team?"

"Maybe…. With Mystique you never know," he said, smirking and watching as my brother came back with the other four.

"I already explained to them what you're asking and we'll join, but only on one condition."

"Name it," Magneto said, raising himself up off the ground and floating over to the window.

"We do what we want when we want. If we want to leave then we leave, no questions asked," Eduardo said sternly.

"Fine…. I'll be back later to take you to my hideout. Take only what you'll need and nothing else," he said before opening the window and flying out.

"Was that a good move?" asked my cousin Anthony.

"I dunno, but it was a move and that's good enough for me," I said, going into my room and started to pack. I heard them do the same and I was left alone with my thoughts. Maybe the decision was a mistake. I didn't know and at that point I didn't care. All I cared about was that I was getting my chance to get back at the humans. You're probably wondering why I'm still so angry after I already killed them. You'd understand better if someone tried to kill your family for no reason except for being what he or she was and not even giving him or her a chance. I hated them for that and I always would.

I packed clothes into an old Nike gym bag and when I had stuffed about a week's worth of clothes in there I got my notebooks and shoved them in there. Those notebooks held my poems and stories in them and I knew I'd never forgive myself if I left them behind so I made sure I had more than enough room for them in the bag. I was done packing fifteen minutes later and then I just laid on the bed, waiting for sleep to come and wondered what the future would hold. How would it be with Magneto? Who would I meet and who would be on my side. What kind of mutants would I fight alongside? I shut my eyes and let the dream world surround me as I continued to wonder these things….

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**Hey, I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review as you leave. TX. Well, I g2g sleep before I pass out here. Abrazos y besos para todos.**

**1,**

**NY GE Pyromaniac**


	3. A Street Girl Named Desire

**To my reviewers: SO SORRY! I know it took me a long time (finals suck!), but now it'll be coming in a little bit faster. I hope you anjoy this chapter. Leave on on your way out. Tx! Enjoy!**

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**_Chapter Three:_ A Street Girl Named Desire **_**Alexandra's POV**_

"Alexandra¡ven acá!" I heard from somewhere in the house. I'm not sure where from though because I was still half asleep and lying on my back on my bed. I groaned as I rolled over and off the bed. I looked at my clock and saw that it was now five in the morning.

"Oh, man! I'm so tired!" I whined on my way out, picking up my bag. "What!"

"C'mere! We're gonna wait for this guy out front and I don't want you alone in the house," my cousin Edwin (Eduardo's youngest brother) called from down the hall in the living room.

"Yo, why you be actin' like you way older than me? You're only older than me by three months and change. Anyway, I'm twenty – not ten," I said, walking to him.

He scoffed and said, "Yeah, but remember: you're the only chica, it's your curse to be treated like a baby."

I shook my head and smiled, "It ain't right though. We're the same age and you get treated your age – I don't," I said as we walked out to the front yard.

He put his arm over my shoulder and said, "Así es, niña."(That's how it is, girl.)

We sat down on the stoop and were silent as we watched the sun peek over the treetops and trickle lightly over the grass in the park across the street. The morning dew was still there and dripping from the newly sprouted leaves onto the new gleaming cars lined up against the sidewalk. Off in the distance, birds chirped and sang their morning hymns. The whole scene was so peaceful and serene. There wasn't much that could ruin the moment.

"It's been so long since we had a moment like this," said Edwin. "You know, all quiet and whatnot. I miss it."

"Me too," I said as the front door opened and my other cousins and brother stepped out. "And it's gone."

"Yep, all gone," said the middle brother of Edwin and Eduardo, Edgar. "Now, what's all gone?"

"Nothing," said Edwin, moving over to make room for them to sit. "Nothing at all." He sighed and slouched where he sat.

"So, when's this guy showing up?" asked Eduardo after throwing Edwin a nasty look for sighing because he knew that that sigh meant he'd ruined a good time for him, and he thought Edwin was being childish.

"Ummm, I dunno, but it can't be much longer…. Mutant terrorists don't like being late for their meetings," I said, chuckling lightly, not at my stale humor, but at the thought of my becoming a mutant terrorist. _Man, shit happens fast_, I thought to myself, bringing my knees to my chest and hugging them. I imagined myself killing some poor human with my bare hands – not my mutation and thought, _I'm going to hell…. It's alright, though. It can't be much worse than what's up here._

"Look, you need to know something, Alexandra," said my brother. "You may be angry beyond belief and I know you're planning on doing what you gotta do to vent that anger, but you can't fall into the trap Magneto is trying to set. You can't ever take a bullet for him because it'll get you nowhere fats…. Don't fall in love with the idea of fighting for someone's cause because it's not yours."

_What the fuck? How does _he_ know _that

I was about to voice my thought, but a roaring engine coming down the block cut me off. In a few seconds this motorcycle stopped right in front of my house. Two people were on it, a boy and a girl, and soon got off of it to walk up to us.

The girl was a little taller than me, so about 5'7", and had extremely curly hair. She seemed to be really ticked off as she walked quickly to us yelling, "How the fuck did you lose the map?"

"Brianna, the wind blew the fucking thing out of my hands. I wasn't gonna jump off the bike to chase it," said the guy.

"John, just stop. You're pissing me off. Just stop!" she said, turning on her heel and almost causing the guy to walk into her when she did.

"Fine. Let's just ask them for directions and get out of here," said John. (A/N: Not Pyro, but an OC that I also own along with Brianna.)

"Fine…. Yo, do you guys know how to get from here to a place in Westchester: um, Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters?"

"Honey, we're in New Jersey. Do you really expect any of us to know how to get there? We barely know how we got here from Long Island," I said, scoffing a little at her question.

"Shit. Then do you at least know how to get onto the nearest interstate?" asked the guy, John.

I was about to answer that I really didn't know, but I was cut off by a familiar voice.

"You go west for about five miles and then you'll see the on ramp right there. Follow it until you get to New York and then ask around for directions to the school," came Magneto's voice from above.

The girl looked up and shielded her eyes from that weird brightness the early morning sky gave and almost fell at the sight of a flying man in cape. "Whoa! What the hell? John, how much exhaust does that thing emit?"

John looked up at Mags and shook his head saying, "Not this much. How – how?"

I got up to stand where they stood so that I could see Magneto and said, "Hey, you're back."

"I said would be, didn't I?" he said, slowly descending. "Are you ready?"

I nodded and said, "Yeah, as ready as we'll ever be…."

He gave me a strange questioning look and then looked to my family. "_Are_ you ready?"

They all nodded, faces made of stone and expressionless. They didn't like to show what they were feeling especially when being speculated by someone they knew could either make or break whatever they were trying to do. They called it their Poker/Hustler's face…. I called it their you've – spent – too – much – time – on – the – streets face even though I was the last one who should've been talking about spending too much time on the streets. My life, before we moved to Long Island from the Bronx, was the streets. I practically lived on them: every night something happened to me – I was lucky to have gotten out of there alive and without a scratch….

I took a deep breath and said, "So, let's go. C'mon, I wanna find this kid and do what I gotta do already!"

Mags smiled and said, "Anxious much? Alright, we'll go…. Do you mind? It's rude to stare." He was giving Brianna and John a nasty look because they were staring him down with that look…you know, the look we all get when someone notices we're different from them.

"Uh, sorry. Thanks for the help, we'll drop you a line when we get there," said John, stepping backward toward his bike and reaching for Brianna's hand.

Brianna, however, seemed transfixed by what she'd just seen. She no longer had that look, but one of interest and curiosity. She stared at Magneto longingly until John called her name and she snapped out of it. "Uh, yeah, thanks. B-bye," she said, turning to leave and looking back as she mounted the bike behind John.

They drove off and a minute later, Magneto scoffed. "'We'll drop you a line when we get there'? That's rich."

I looked at him, giving him a strange look and asked, "You have a very _odd_ sense of humor, don't you?"

"You noticed?" he asked, as he brought his hands up, slowly to hip height.

I almost jumped at the sensation of being lifted by invisible hands into the air and then let myself go as he lifted me higher by my numerous chains, bracelets and rings. I never knew so much jewelry could ever come in handy. I had my cousin to thank for that. "Wow. Shit, this cool. Yo, get your asses up and try this. It's fun!"

The others were kind of hesitant in doing so, but when Magneto got them into the air, they were all laughing and having fun along with me.

"Metal?" asked Edwin. "You control metal?"

Magneto nodded and floated our bags to us so we could hold on to them and then he turned and flew. A few seconds later we followed him and finally fulfilled those childhood dreams of being able to fly… involuntarily, but we still did it.

We just floated along the New Jersey sky and enjoyed the scenery. Soon, I felt myself being pulled forward a little further than the rest of them and then I found myself at Magneto's side.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"We're going to a location in Brooklyn. You might've head of it: Coney Island," he said very businesslike, not even bothering to look me in the eye. He simply looked ahead and continued, "That's where Mystique told me to meet her. She said she had Pyro with her and she wasn't going to give him up until we've come to some sort of agreement. This means that once she gets what she wants, there's really no telling what she'll do to Pyro. Normally, I'd say she'd kill him, but he'd become like a son to her and he even tried looking for her after the Alcatraz fiasco, but he couldn't find her. Maybe, she still harbors some of her maternal feelings for him. I don't know, but we can't risk it."

"Yeah?" I asked, sensing something in him. He was trying to hide the fact that he cared about this boy by masking his worry with a businesslike tone. "Why not? I mean, he's just another member, right? Why not just _replace_ him," I said, placing precise emphasis on the 'replace'.

He looked at me for a split second with a disgusted look and the disguised it with one of amusement. "I could, but it takes too long to break in a new right hand man."

I scoffed and shook my head. _Nice cover_.

He continued with his plans. "Anyway, when we get there I need you to locate him and, with your family's help, get him out of there and to the local theme park: Astroland. Got it? Good."

"Wait! How am I supposed to find him? I don't have any clue where he is and I don't know how to track people," I said, unsure of how he expected me to fid this boy.

"Did you forget about your psychic abilities? Look for his mind, girl. My goodness, you'd swear you were as dense as a sack of potatoes," he said, rolling his eyes and scoffing.

"Oh no. No, I can't. I don't know how to control it. I _can't_ control it. I could end up killing someone without the other mutation. No. Nuh-uh. Absolutely not," I said, my mind already set on not even trying to open that part of my mind.

**An Hour Later in C.I.**

"Mags, I _really_ can't do this. I could really hurt one of you guys, not to mention myself," I nearly begged as we walked down a block labeled 17th and Mermaid Avenue.

He took a deep breath and exhaled deeply before stopping us and looking dead at me. "Look, all you need to do is concentrate on the task at hand. Don't be afraid of it because _that's_ when it'll kill you. Just flow with it, you know. Become one with the power."

I stared at him incredulously for a minute before bursting out, "Are you out of your fucking mind? '_Become one with the power'_. You sound like a damn hippie."

"Just do it and you'll be okay," he said, continuing to walk down the block. He turned into an opening in a chain link fence that surrounded a parking lot for a Church and an old building. "Hurry up! Go through here and into the other parking lot to get into the schoolyard. Find the back door and get in. Don't hesitate on anything and be careful. She's most likely got this place rigged."

"You're a huge oxymoron, you know," I said, catching up to him and then walking past him to get across the lot and through another fence, which was locked so I had to climb it. Once inside the schoolyard, I saw three sets of doors. Since I didn't know which one to go through, I just did Inie- Minie- Miney-Moe and chose the door closest to me. A split second later I heard four _thuds_ from behind me and I knew that they were the sounds of the others jumping from the gate.

"Move. I got this," said Edgar, pushing me slightly to one side and stepping close to the door so that he could put his ear to it and knock on it. "Cheap…or old…. I'm betting both. Step back, it'll get dusty."

We followed his order and, not even a second later, he'd reared his arms as if about to throw a fastball and then slammed a first into the door and waited there. Nothing happened at first but then the door cracked a bit and then from that small crack, others grew, more prominent and more unsteadying to the door until they reached the doorframe and my brother pulled his fist away from the door. It came down in crumbles and Edgar was right – there was a lot of dust.

As soon as the dust cleared, we stepped inside what looked like a gymnasium. There was a small stage and four pillars in center corners of the room. Along the sides of the room, chairs were staked and folded round and rectangular tables were leaned up against the walls, a thick layer of dust on them. What made me scoff a little was that, despite the given conditions of the room, dusty chairs and tables and all the cracks in the stage's mahogany build and tiles missing from the floor, was that there was a soda machine all the way in the back of the gym near another set of double doors that was in perfect condition. It was even plugged it and lit up and whatnot.

"C'mon, Alexandra. Let's go mutant hunting," said Edgar, causing me to shudder.

The way he said it reminded me of watching them being gunned down in front of my house four years ago.

I shook my head, clearing it of thought long enough to try and concentrate on my surroundings and then clear them out too so I could find any mind screaming for help. None came and I sighed. "I can't do this! Why the hell did he make me do this?"

"You want to leave?" asked Eduardo, giving my brother a nasty look when he sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes. He was always so much nicer to me than my brother was. My brother was my brother and I loved him no matter what, but there were no laws anywhere that said that I had to love him more than my cousin and I didn't.

I looked at my cousin, seeing the worry in his eyes and the softness they held – the concern. Then I looked at my brother. His eyes said it: _I love you, but you annoy the hell out of me._

_Wait! That wasn't _your_ thought! You read his mind_, I thought to myself, my eyes widening and darting all over the room and to each of them.

_What the fuck is she waiting for? My God! She's so annoying,_ my brother's inner self thought impatiently.

_What's wrong with her? Why is she staring at me? Maybe she's really scared,_ was the basic consensus of the others.

"I can read your minds," I said in awe. That was happening a lot today…the awe I mean. "I can _read minds_!" I stated, elation building inside me. "Oh God! The kid!" were my last words before trying again to clear out everything surrounding my thoughts and me and looking once again for any silent distress calls. None came, but there was a small, continuous monologue coming from somewhere. It sounded angry and confused and maybe just a little frightened:

_What the fuck? Why the _hell_ did she come after me? Why couldn't she have gone after Pete or Remy or someone else? Goddamn! Mystique, what the hell were you thinking? Mags is gonna kill you! You _know_ better! God, get me out of here!_

It went the same way for a minute or so longer and then quiet ensued.

I scrunched my forehead in thought of why he'd stopped thinking, but then shook my head to clear it again so that I could try to figure out where his thoughts were coming from inside the building. I honestly had no idea where the hell it was coming from so I just went with my gut and walked across the gym and through the double doors.

They lead to a sort of delta that had five mouths that lead to five different hallways. The one straight ahead led to yet another double door – higher than the rest – and I simply assumed it was the back way out of here because there were windows on either side of it. The hall to upper right hand side led to a short set of stairs, leading down, that were marked right above by a sign labeled 'Weight Room/Men's Restroom/Cafeteria'. The hall opposite that one led to a similar set of stairs whose sign was labeled 'Ladies Room/Nurse's Office/Multi Purpose Room'. The door on the lower right hand side led to a staircase, leading upward, that had another set of double doors marked above by 'Pre-K – 1st Grade Classrooms'.

"Jesus, it's a school," I whispered, shocked and scared of what else could be going on here. Why was the school so dirty? Was it shut down? Hopefully.

"Don't worry, it's shut down," came Magneto's voice from the opposite side. He was standing atop a set of stairs that mirrored the ones I was just looking at and in front of a door that was also the same save for the markings ('Main Office/Faculty Lounge/Eighth Grade Classroom; Third Floor: Grades 2nd – 7th/ Restrooms; Fourth Floor: Attic/Computer Lab), and staring down at us with a grimace on his face.

"What?" I asked. "I told I didn't know how to do this. It's gonna take me a while."

He shook his head. "Call out to him. Pyro…or St. John if he refuses to answer you back," said Magneto.

"Why would he refuse to answer back?" I asked, running up the stairs he stood atop and stopping at his side, soon followed by the others.

"He's had some bad experiences with telepaths…and he just refuses to listen to you if you address him by his alias is he doesn't know you and that's why I gave you his real name, which by the way is never to be used unless he says it's okay…. You should've seen what he did to Colossus – or rather _tried_ to do to Colossus when he called him St. John the first time he saw him when he joined my Acolytes." He gave a scoff and said, "Nearly killed himself trying lift him off the ground to body slam him."

I couldn't help but laugh at the mental image of a boy with blonde hair about a head taller than me trying to lift a man, who I assumed to be – well _colossus_, off of the ground and then throwing his back out. "Fiery temper?"

"You have no idea," Magneto said, extracting a shiny metal object from his breast pocket. It was a Zippo lighter with a shark painted on it. It seemed a little tattered and worn out, as if someone had been flipping open and close constantly for a while. "Here. Give this to him when you find him. Mystique has most definitely disabled the flamethrower and he needs protection."

I took the lighter. It felt sort of heavy and warm, like no one has ever put it down. Then it all clicked in my head. Pyro. Zippo lighter. Flamethrower. I never saw the kid use his power or for that matter paid enough attention to the news to hear what it was, but I'd figured it out. "Fire…. He can control it?"

"Yes. Can you guess his one handicap?"

I looked form him to the lighter and came to the only possible conclusion. "He can't create it…can he?"

He shook his head and said, "…No…. Anyway, I heard something moving around upstairs. Now, I know Mystique is smarter than to allow him to be on the floor or anywhere near something he can make noise with and she herself is too graceful to make any noise when she steps, so I have no idea what that noise was. Be careful and find him."

I could feel my cousins' and brother's glares on my back.

_Yeah, send her into dangerous territory and then be a fuck hole and tell to be careful_, blurted Edwin's mind.

I scoffed and said, "Alright. Let's go. Upstairs where?"

"Third floor, I presume. The attic is too clichéd for her," he said, suddenly floating and levitating down the stairs. "Remember: give him the lighter _as soon as he can take it from you_." With that he opened the, obviously wood stained metal doors, and left.

"C'mon."

We walked through the door that had been left slightly ajar by Magneto and through the hallway and into another hallway that led to another set of stairs. We climbed them and found ourselves in a long corridor.

"Eduardo, Anthony and I will take this side and you, Edwin and Edgar take that one. If you find her, Cesar, make this light right here flicker," I said, pointing upward to an old and rickety florescent light bulb. It looked like if he did make it flicker it would fall off, but whatever. I didn't care about this building. All I wanted was to find Pyro and get the fuck out of there. It was creeping me out in there. Just the thought of millions of kids passing through these halls through the years made my skin crawl. The fact that walls were still covered in the children's artwork didn't make things any better. It just made it seem like the school had been evacuated in a hurry for some reason…like something had happened where the kids and everyone else were in danger….

"Fine. If you find her…whatever, just let us know," said Cesar. He was already bored and most likely just wanted to go back to sleep. I didn't blame him. I was tired too – it was only around seven in the morning – but I needed to do this…to see what else was out there. I needed to know that I wasn't wasting my life just stewing in my anger and hatred and that I could do something about it. But Cesar was just fine doing nothing and sometimes, in the middle of an argument, he'd tell me that he wished I'd never brought him back so that he wouldn't have to look for someone to take revenge on…. I never told him, but sometimes I wish I never brought him back either. He's such an ass sometimes, but he's my brother and I'm forced to love him.

"Fine."

Eduardo, Anthony and I walked to the left side and Eduardo waited for the other's footsteps to fade before asking, "You okay?"

"Estoy bien. No te preocupes (I'm fine. Don't worry)," I said, looking into the first classroom I passed. Empty save for dust desks and a chalkboard that read: _Mutations…Good or Bad?_

"You don't seem fine," came Anthony's young sounding voice. He was only a year younger than me and to me it seemed like he was a decade younger. I felt sorry for him sometimes – having to deal with my over protectiveness and all.

I shook my head and continued walking. "Nothing's wrong. Cesar was just being an ass…. How the hell is that news to you?"

I looked into the next classroom. No writing on the board this time, but there were some pieces of oak tag on the floor and some crayons and paintbrushes lay scattered all over along with little tins of oil colors. _They were going to do a class project…. What happened?_ I shuddered and took two more steps before stopping at the sound of only my footsteps. "You coming?" I asked, looking back at them.

Eduardo was standing still, letting droplets of water run all along his hand, never letting them fall but always coming close. Anthony was juggling a ball of light that somewhat illuminated his face, which had this heartbreaking look that caught me by surprise. It made me jump a little.

"What?" I asked, walking back to them, taking his hand in my mine, and causing the light to go out. "What's wrong?"

"He's being an ass a lot lately, huh?" he asked, bringing back the little ball of light and passing it from knuckle to knuckle like a coin.

I let out and exasperated breath and said, "Yeah, but it's nothing. It'll pass."

He shook his head and said, "No, it won't…. It's never gonna end and it's not even gonna lessen a little…. He fucking _hates_ you." He looked me dead in the eyes, pain showing in his at the same time as he searched mine.

"Anthony¡Jesús Cristo! What the fuck?" Eduardo whispered frantically, looking behind him as if he were afraid that Cesar was there. Then he gave me this sympathetic look, his mind saying it all: _I don't know why he hates you and I wish I could fix it, but I can't_.

"It's okay…. I always knew he did. I mean, yeah I'm his sister and he has to love me but he doesn't have to like me. This makes things a whole lot easier on me, actually. I don't have to hold anything back anymore. Tell that asswipe that he needs to watch his back from now on. If that son of a bitch can't stand being alive and can't even be thankful then I'll be glad to end it all. Fuckin' dumbass best recognize who he's fuckin' with, yo," I said, turning angrily on my heel and continuing down the hall.

The next two classrooms were pretty much mirror images of the second and were just as scary, but I was too angry and, even though I hate to admit it, hurt to care. One side of me kept saying that I didn't care and that I never did…that I never needed him or _anyone_ for that matter. That part of me kept reverting back to the person I used to be before we moved to Long Island: a street girl. But the other part of me, a much smaller part, kept asking why my brother hated me so…why he didn't like me…why he _never_ liked me and why he only pretended to. But that part was quickly silenced by the fact I could bring him back to life whenever the hell I felt like it. Part of me knew it wasn't true, but the other part – the street part that never shut its Goddamn mouth – kept telling me that he'd been using me since I was young. All those doctors' visits were just to find out how I could help him not to find out why my gene fell out of dormancy at such an early age…. He never cared.

I could here the other two's footsteps behind me, slow and tentative, as if scared to come anywhere near me when I was this angry. I sucked my teeth and soon turned on them.

_Them too. What, did you really think Eduardo loved you? Sweetie, you're just his cousin. Edgar and Edwin are his _brothers_…he loves them not you._

Anger built up inside me and soon boiled over. As a result I turned to open the door to the next classroom but, before I could even get a finger on the doorknob, the door flew open and crashed against the wall, past the doorstopper. I took a deep, calming (well as calming as it could get) breath and walked in.

The desks were all a mess and some were even broken. There was a draft in the room because all of the windows had been shattered. There were some weird stains on the board that somewhat covered what it said: _Mutants Are The Spawn Of The Devil…Kill Them_. It looked like it was an outline for something that was to be written or preached…. It sent chills up my spine just reading it.

"Man, where _is_ he? Lemme try this again. Maybe – he's sending some kind of -." I started but then jumped at the sound of water splashing. "What the hell?"

I turned around just in time to duck a high back kick and a torrent of water that my cousin sent toward the person who'd tried to kick at me. I threw myself to the ground and used the water as a buffer between my exposed skin and the floor to slide along it to the other side of the room. I leapt to my feet before slamming into a radiator, hoping to find myself a little bit away from the scuffle, but I hadn't been fast enough. Faster than I could say 'shit!', there was a blue form in front of me that had eyes the color of a snake's eyes. This person was about an inch from my face and radiated anger.

"Who sent you?" she asked, grabbing me by my shirt and slamming me against the radiator.

I groaned at the pain and used all my weight to push her off of me. I swung as fast and as hard as I could at her blue form, but she did this twisty-twirl jump thing and was about ten feet away form me in a split second. I growled and jumped at her again. This time I caught her on her chin with a high kick followed by an elbow to the face. It didn't take her down though. All she did was wipe the little trickle of blood from her mouth and chin and smirked.

"Strong little prick, aren't you?" she asked as my cousins tried to pull a fast one on her by sneaking up behind her, but she was too alert and too fast for them. With one swift movement she had them both knocked out and sprawled out on the floor. The sight would've been kind of funny had it not been so dangerous to be left alone with her.

I knew I wasn't going to be able to take her down myself just because of this feeling I got as soon as she slammed me up against the heater and the way she spoke: with a finesse that surpassed even the Bronx's slickest. But I couldn't go down without a fight…ever…. I lunged at her with everything I had – all my strength, all my anger, and all my hatred of anyone and everyone who'd done me wrong in the past – and pinned her to the floor. Next I went for her face in an attempt to scratch it up (A/N: What can I say? Play dirty.), but she somehow got her hands from under my knees to around my neck and that caught me off guard. I tried to pry her fingers from my neck and that gave her an opening.

She let go of my neck and pushed me off of her, throwing me into the bookshelf to my left. She leapt up like a cat and in the blink of an eye was in midair in another twisty-twirl jumping thing and then landed a hard back-kick on my face, knocking me out….

_**John's POV**_

I was hanging there – yes, _hanging_ – just staring out the window and wondering when Mags would realize that I was gone. It was way past dawn and the sun was beginning to peek over the cross on top the church outside, creating an eerie shadow along the ground.

_This is why I never went to church…. Maybe this is my punishment?_

I didn't even know how Mystique had gotten me in this position: I was hanging from a light fixture on the ceiling by a rope tied to my waist whilst my arms and legs were tied up as well. I looked like I was about to be lowered into the deepest pits of hell or something, which wouldn't be so bad if it actually was what it was depicted as in the media and whatnot. Fire…. I missed my flamethrower, which lay empty and lifeless in a corner of the room I was in. Mystique had been so evil to it. She emptied of its fuel first and then, to make sure it never worked again, she broke the sparkers on it…. The sick thing was that right afterward she said that she missed me.

She'd left a while ago to go see if Magneto had arrived yet for their negotiations, which I still doubted he eve knew he had to be there for, and has not returned since.

I was beginning to wonder if she'd left when I heard a loud _clang_ in the room across from this one and then someone groaning and growling. I tried to swing myself around to see if I had a view from where I was hanging, but to no avail.

After a few minutes the noise stopped and a minute or so after that, Mystique came in. She was dragging two male bodies, one large and one a little scrawnier, into the room by the collars. There was no doubt in my mind that she'd been responsible for their unconsciousness, but the fact that she was grumbling while dragging them in and that she had a some blood dripping from her mouth and some scratched on her face told me that she hadn't expected to have to fight these people. She left the room again once the bodies were situated and then came back a minute later with a petite female body. God, she was pretty despite the beat up look she had about her (no doubt the work of Mystique). "This little bitch is strong," was all that she said as she ungracefully threw the girl, who couldn't have been much older than me…maybe even younger, aside. She walked up to me, grabbed my face to turn it to hers and said, "Think Eric sent her? There're some more down the hall, but I'll wait for them to come looking for these idiots and then find Eric. I know he's behind this…. He'd never let anyone hurt his little firebug."

The way she said that sounded like was mocking Magneto, but I knew she meant it in an almost admiring way. I knew that no matter how hard she tried to keep to her reputation, Mystique made a mistake during her last few days in the Brotherhood: she started to consider me as another son to her and she let Magneto find out. I knew Magneto was going to use this to his advantage even though he was the same way as her with me. He, despite popular belief, was actually kind of nice when he wanted to be…and was becoming like the father that I never had.

"Yeah?" I said, with a touch of uncertainness in my voice to try and get her to feel sorry for me. Hey it worked on regular mothers, why not surrogate mothers?

She smiled – no really smiled – and stroked my cheek softy before leaving the room.

_Shit!_ I thought, trying to swing again just to fell myself move. I went numb hours ago and I had to keep moving so that I could keep some sort of blood flow in me even if it was sort of rigid and segmented. I swung a little too high and the fall back down was just that: a fall. My weight had pulled the light fixture from its place and sent it crashing down and it took me with it. I hit the floor and felt my ribs crack, causing me to yelp a little in pain, but I shut my mouth because even if I knew Mystique had heard the light fixture fall, I knew didn't know if it was the one I was tied to or not. Slowly, I sat up – well, actually kneeled up – and gasped for air and immediately regretted it. My lungs pushing against my ribs caused too much pain to tolerate, and this caused my breathing to become labored.

I knelt there for a few minutes before attempting to release any of my limbs from the mess of ropes but stopped when I heard some shifting on the other side of the room. My head swiveled quickly to that side and I saw the girl, who let out a small groan, moving her head from side to side. I watched as she went through the always-painful process of awakening after a beating and felt kind of sorry for her…. Mystique's ass kickings, though short, were always hard…especially the first time.

"Shit…. W-where am I?" she asked, sitting up and spotting me. Her eyes went wide when she saw me (I must've looked like hell), and she immediately asked, "Are you Pyro?"

I would've answered her that I was, but what if Mags didn't send her? No, she'd have to convince me of that.

She urged on, "Are you Pyro?"

I didn't answer. I just waited.

"Are you…St. John?" she asked, getting to her feet slowly and staggering towards me.

I gasped a little and then groaned in pain when she said my name. _How? … Mags._ "Yes…. Did Magneto…?" There was no need to go on asking a dumb question when the flash of fear (was it?) passed her eyes at the mere mention of his name.

"Jesus, I need to get you out of here and down to Astroland," she said frantically, falling to he knees next to me and quickly undoing the ropes. "C'mon."

I felt a strong pulse as my blood began to flow again and struggled to get to my feet and almost collapse when I did. Not only were my legs numb, but my ribs were also throbbing now and the only way I could stand was to support myself on her.

"What's wrong?"

"Ribs…broken, I think," I said hoarsely as we began to walk out of the room.

She stopped suddenly and said, "Oh shit! Anthony and Eduardo!"

"Leave them. Mystique won't kill them unless it's absolutely necessary. She doesn't go against her own kind…. You guys _are_ our kind, right?"

She nodded, giving me a fearful look, which in my opinion only made her more beautiful than she already was and squeaked, "Yes."

I couldn't help but use a soft tone with her. "Then they're fine. You can come back for them late, …I promise."

She bit her full lip and nodded. "Okay…. Let's go. You can lean a little more if you want. I won't break," she said, smiling a little. "Oh, he asked me to give you this." She dug through her jeans' pockets and extracted my favorite little toy: my shark tooth Zippo.

I felt my eyes widen at the sight and almost kissed her when she handed it to me. Instead I settled for an awkward hug. "Thanks."

She smiled in response and we continued on out of the room and eventually out of the school building. "Ummm…do you know how to get there? Astroland, I mean."

"No, but can we take a rest for a minute? I'm in a shit load of pain right now," I said, gritting my teeth and holding back a lot of yelling.

She nodded and helped me to a nearby stoop and sat down next to me. "What happened? How'd you break them and why were you tied up?" she asked, coaxing me into lying on my back and gently lifting my shirt to inspect the damage.

I told her the story as she gently pushed here and prodded there to see how bad things were. She listened intently and made these cute little faces when she heard certain parts of the story. Like when I told her I came crashing down with the light fixture, she said, "Awww, poor baby," and pouted while massaging my ribs a little, probably feeling for the break. I was done way before she was and just watched as she searched for the break. She had such a determined look on her face, and it was so cute. Her intensely green eyes had a confused look to them but at the same time held such a soft look. Her lips, full and ruby red in color, were pouted up until she smiled when she found the break.

"Here. They're not broken. Just cracked, sweetie," she said sweetly, pulling my shirt back down and helping me sit up.

"Thanks, …uh…. What's you name?"

"Oh, sorry. Alexandra," she said, smiling.

Beautiful name, but not what I was looking for. "What's you _real_ name, Alexandra?"

She gave me a perplexed look and then she got it…. "Desire…."

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**Hey, again, sorry it took so long for me to update. Look, between you and me, I know it's been kinda slow in the previous chapters (damn finals), but now that I'm out of school and it's summer time I'll be writting more and moving the plot along, but only if you guys review and tell me that you want more. I know, egotistical...so sue me. Lol, jk. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Leave a review on your way out. Abrazos y besos para todos!**

**1,**

**NY GE Pyromaniac**


	4. Deals Made and Names Changed

**A/N: C'mon people. I need your reviews. Well, to my only reviwer for the last chapter Kari Lynn Craine, tx for your review and here's Chapter four. **

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**_Chapter Four:_ Deals Made and Names Changed**

**_Alexandra's POV _**

He was pretty banged up. I mean, besides his ribs being cracked, he looked like hell. His face had this huge bruise on the right cheek and a gash across his chin on the same side. His blonde hair was all disheveled and he reeked of stale beer and lighter fluid. His clothes were wrinkled in some places and torn in others. I was itching to ask him what had happened to him, but he just seemed so tired as he lay there on the stoop that I didn't have the heart to disturb him. Besides, I wasn't feeling so hot myself. My head throbbed and my face ached where the blue woman had kicked me. Who was she?

"Hey, Pyro," I said, letting curiosity get the best of me, and touching his hand to get his attention.

He looked up at me and asked, "Yeah?"

"Did you see the blue woman?"

He nodded.

"Do you know who she was?" I asked, changing my position so that I now sat Indian style on his right side.

He groaned as he sat up and said, "Yeah, that's Mystique…. She's a little crazy but you can't blame her…. I'd be pissed too if Mags had left me for dead after being turned into a human…."

"Huh? Wait. When did this happen?"

"Four years ago during that whole mutant cure shit that was happening. She got cured by mistake when she took a bullet for Magneto and Mags just left her where she fell because she'd turned human…. It's really fucked up especially when you think about all the shit that they've been through together…but that's Mags, I guess," he said, a thoughtful look spreading across his features. "Or maybe not…. I mean, he's kept me around this long and I fuck up a lot."

I smirked at this statement and said, "I don't think getting kidnapped is fucking up…. Anyway, I think he loves you a little too much to leave you somewhere after being turned into a human…. Hey, how is she blue then? If she got the cure, isn't she human now?"

He smirked and said, "Here's the funny part…. It wears off after a couple of weeks…. Rogue, must've been pissed."

I was going to ask who Rogue was, but I was cut off by the sound of a window crashing and an explosion. I looked up and saw only falling glass. "What the hell was that?"

Pyro stood up and said, "…Remy…. Pete is probably with him. Magneto sent you guys as a decoy?"

I nodded and he smirked. "So he knew for a while."

"Huh?"

"I'll tell you later. Right now we need to leave. Mags said Astroland right?"

"Yeah. Are you good to run?" I asked, figuring that we'd run anyway because we needed to leave according to him even if we didn't know where the hell we were going.

"I'll live through it," he said, taking my hand and pulling me away from the building. We started at a jog across the lot and out through the chain link fence, but sped up to a run down the block when we heard another explosion.

I could here Pyro breathing heavily next to me and grunted every once in a while from pain. I don't even know how we made it to Astroland at all because we were just running at top speed and randomly turning here and there just to get away from where were. But when we got to the gates, we just leaned against them to catch our breath and when we did, I turned to him and asked, "What was that about? Who are Remy and Pete?"

He looked at me, eyes glinting with a sort of malice in them but that was quickly replaced by a mischievous tint. "Remy – uh _Gambit_ – is from Louisiana, I think. He's where the explosions came from. Pete or Colossus is a long story. I barely understand it because he left a lot of it out. All I know is that he owes Magneto something…he never said what it was…anyway he showed up one day about a month or two ago. He'd left the X-Men for this life…. He told Gambit why he left and about the thing with Magneto, but not me…. He always ticked me off, but he's cool once you get to know him. Plus he can really save you ass if you freeze."

"Oh…. You okay? They hurt?" I asked, gesturing to his ribs and wondering if there was a hospital nearby that I could take him to, but decided against it figuring that they wouldn't take care of him anyway because he was a mutant. That's how bad things were now. Doctors were refusing to take patients because they were mutants and everything was kind of…split, I guess. Mutants only and Humans only…that kind of bullshit.

"I'm good…. I'm kind of nervous though," he said, hugging himself to soothe the pain in his ribs.

"Why?"

"Don't you think it was a little too easy to get away from Mystique? I mean, I know she heard us or at least the light fixture falling…. I dunno. Mystique never lets a mission slip…." He twisted his face in thought and concentrated on what was at hand. _What does she want? It can't be much – she let her bargaining chip escape…. But she has two more…._

"The other two aren't that important to Magneto so she's not going to care about them either," I said staring at the ground. I was scared for my cousins…and, even though I didn't want to be, my brother. That feeling dissipated when I heard him making a sort of choking sound next to me.

"You're a telepath?" he asked, eyes wide and mouth agape.

_Shit! I forgot!_ I thought. "Yeah…sorry. I forgot. I just…tried it out today…."

"'Tried it out'? It's sounds like you're talking about a car or something."

I smirked and said, "I guess it's sort of like that…and I don't know how to drive. Look at it like that. I never used this ability because I never knew how to so I kind of tried shutting it off, but sometimes, mostly in my dreams, it comes back at me. Anyway, sorry."

"No, don't worry about it. It just caught me by surprise is all," he said, smiling softly.

He was very good looking for a guy who'd recently had the shit kicked out of him…and in general. His hair, no longer completely blonde, was now only blonde at the tips and brunette the rest of the way up. So, he wasn't a natural blonde? Ah well, brunette is better on him anyway. His eyes, chocolate pools of warmth and fiery passion, were half lidded at the moment and observing me.

I blushed then and then smiled at him as his eyes traveled all over me. I let him stare or a little bit until he got a little dazed and then something came to mind. "Hey, what did you mean by Magneto knew for a while? What did he know?"

He snapped back to reality and said, "Oh, I meant that he knew about the negotiations for a few hours now and has been planning. See, when he didn't show up after a couple of hours I'd thought he just didn't care or wasn't even awake yet. But obviously he did if he could you guys to come on as decoys and Gambit and Colossus to help him out…. Did he tell you what this was about? I know it has something to do with this whole thing with the President's New Isolation Law. But what does she want to do?"

I shrugged. "Maybe she wants to get it eliminated. Mags did say that he thought that she wanted was someone with influential status to help her out in this…maybe she's gonna ask for someone to stop the founding of that law."

He scoffed. "Mystique? Doing anything the legal way? Yeah right! No. I think she wants Magneto to help her with something bigger…kill the President maybe?"

I cocked an eyebrow. "Kill? Wouldn't that fuck up everything for us? The President's not the not the only one working on this law. She kills him, she's gonna piss of a lot of people…a lot of _powerful_ people."

He nodded and said, "Yeah, that's true…. Well, whatever it is that she wants to do she needs to do it fast. President Wanna-Be is passing that Isolation Law in a couple of weeks."

I'd heard very little about the Isolation Law, so I didn't really know what it was. All I knew what that it was law that was to keep mutants and humans separated. The thing I didn't get, though, was how they were planning on getting all of us to do wherever they said to do. They'd be hypocrites to force us to do anything without a mandate that _everyone_, mutant and non-mutant alike, respected…but then again, everyone's is a hypocrite in someway.

Silence ensued for a few minutes until he cleared his throat and asked, "Ummm, did Magneto tell you what to do when we got here?" He had this kind of freaked out look on his face that made wonder if this kid had ever been own his own in his life. He seemed to really depend on Magneto, which wasn't bad unless he didn't know how to take care of himself…but I doubted that was the case. He's still alive right?

I shrugged. "No. He just said to bring you here and to give you that lighter…. I guess we wait for him, right?"

He sighed and said, "Yep. We wait."

I sighed and leaned back against the park's gates. "I hope he's quick with this shit. I wanna know what's going on."

"You coming with us?" he asked suddenly.

I looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Are you coming with us to finish this?" he pressed.

I really hadn't thought of that until then and I didn't know what to say. I guess I was. I didn't really have a place anywhere else. I mean, all my cousins usually followed what Cesar did and I know Cesar wasn't going to follow Magneto…not even if I did. So, why not? If I followed Magneto, I'd have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I looked back at Pyro and said, "Yeah, I guess so."

He smirked and said, "Good. We need someone who can read minds with us."

I smiled and said, "Yeah, well. You'll have a fully functioning one with great benefits once I figure out how to really control this ability. It's part of why I'm here…along with getting back at them."

He nodded and I knew there was no need for me to explain who I meant by "them". "Mags said he could help you?"

"No, he didn't. He said he could get me my chance at payback…. I'm not so sure that I should've believed him, but I'm living on a wing and a prayer here…he's my wing."

"And your prayer?"

"That I learn how to fucking use this shit before I die," I said, concentrating on a paper cup on the sidewalk and lifting it about a foot off the ground.

"You're getting better at that," came Eduardo's voice from my left.

I turned to look at him, letting the cup drop, and stood up. "What's up? What happened?"

He was with his brothers, my brother, Magneto, the blue woman (Mystique, was it?) and two people I didn't know: a tall, muscular man that looked to be about my brother's age covered in what seemed to be foil and another man. This one was about a head shorter than the other, looked the same age, was wearing a trench coat and was shuffling a deck of cards. This man caught my attention with his red on black eyes. They seemed to burn.

"There you are, Johnny…and the little prick," said Mystique, a playful smirk playing on her lips. "Sorry for the inconvenience, darling, but you know you're the only way this one will even listen to me."

Pyro stood up and scoffed before saying, "It's Pyro, Mystique. Unless I can call you Raven."

She hissed.

"I thought so."

"Come now, my dear boy. We need to leave before people start showing up and suspect something," said Magneto, walking to Pyro and handing him some handcuff looking bracelets.

He put them on and said, "You know, I never thought I'd say this, but, I fucking missed the Brotherhood."

Magneto smirked and said, "We're the Acolytes now…. The Brotherhood was all of us, but we're separate now. She gets the Brotherhood name and all of its baggage and we get the Acolytes."

Pyro scoffed and looked around at the two mystery men and said, "It fits. Nothing but fucking henchmen, we are."

"You chose it."

He nodded and said, "Yep…. So, what's up? What happened? I wanna know."

Magneto motioned for him to calm down and said, "The Isolation Law. She wants it gone before it's born. So do I."

"Did I miss a meeting or something? You never said anything about this," Pyro said, a confused look spreading across his face.

"Actually, yes, you did. Last night."

"Oh," he said, a sheepish grin replacing the confused look. "So, what're you planning on doing?"

"Her crew is going to get more information on this law and what it really means for us. When said mission is done, we'll come in and decide what needs to be done," said Magneto to all of us.

"What do you mean 'we'?" asked my brother. "We're not fucking staying. Fuck no! We're not getting into this shit and getting ourselves killed. C'mon, Alexandra."

He began walking away and my cousins followed him, but I didn't.

I knew he was scared. For what reason? I understood he was scared of dying again and the possibility that I may die too and not be able to bring him back, but I didn't care anymore. He could go home and be happy without me there and I could stay with Magneto and get what I want. Everyone wins. No muss no fuss. Just what we all want.

He noticed that I wasn't by his side already, as had always been the case in the past, and turned around. "What're you waiting for? C'mon!"

I took deep breath, looked at Magneto who looked back at me with an 'it's – now – or – never' look and said to Cesar, "No…. I'm staying. I need to do this."

"No. You're coming home!" he yelled, walking up to me and grabbing me by the arm.

I pulled it away from him and yelled, "I have no fucking home!"

He looked at me incredulously for a minute before saying, "Fine. Do whatever the fuck you want. It's a load off my back. Die if you want. I don't care."

I stared daggers at him and said, "Same here."

He leered at me and then turned back to the others and continued to walk with them.

Eduardo looked back only once, tearing my heart up with that damn look of his, but then continued walking.

I watched them until they were out of sight and turned to Magneto. "So, what now? Where's her crew? _Who's_ her crew?"

"Not something you need to worry about, little one. All you need to know is who _they_ (he gestured to the foil man and the one with the cards) are and how to work with them," said Magneto.

I looked at them. The foil man looked like he had a stick jammed up his ass. Seriously. He stood up straight as a post and from what I could see held a stone like face. He was huge! "Who is that?" I asked, pointing the foil man.

"Colossus…. Don't ask me for more…. The other one is Gambit. Don't ask me anything about him either. There's too much to say in the little time that we have. He'll tell you anyway."

I nodded and said, "Fine."

"Mystique, get your people and do as you said you'd do. In the meantime, we'll try and figure out a way to get into the State Capital," said Magneto. "Should be easy work."

She scoffed and said, "I don't think so, Eric. Remember, they know who you are and what you can do. Do you really think that they're not prepared for you?"

"For me? Yes…. For her, however," he said, gesturing to me. "Not a chance…."

Mystique looked at me. She had this weird look in her eyes.

I don't know how to explain it…. It was kind of like jealousy, but with a tint of slyness. Whatever it was, it made nervous. I looked away from her and at Pyro.

He was staring at Magneto. "Alright. Plans are set. Can we go now? That pirate ship behind me is freaking me out. It keeps making noise."

"Relax. If it falls, I'll push it far away form you, you little brat. Remind me that when we get home I need to punish you for missing the meeting, getting drunk and for being late."

"I was kidnapped!" Pyro protested.

Magneto shrugged. "You were still late."

I scoffed at this and watched as Magneto floated upward, bringing Pyro and the other two with him, one by the boots and the other…well, by his skin.

"Think you can fly on your own?" asked Magneto, looking down at me.

I exhaled deeply and said, "I'll try." I shut my eyes and concentrated hard on just lifting myself off the ground. I kept at this for a couple of minutes, but felt nothing. Then I just gave up and opened my eyes, expecting to still be on the ground. But no, I was staring at Magneto's face. "Shit!" I said, grabbing onto him when I felt myself about to fall.

"You won't fall. Just keep it up. It'll get easier," he said, pulling my hands off of him.

I marveled at the sensation and just smiled at him. "I can fly…."

He nodded and said, "Yes…. Now, follow me."

"Where're we going?" I asked, flying circles around him.

"Home…."

_Home…._ It occurred to me then that I was part of something now…. I was home now with them…. I nodded and said, "Lead the way."

He smirked and then flew off. We all, Colossus, Gambit, Pyro and I, were right behind him.

_I wonder if he lives in some dump…or maybe he's one of those bad guys that actually has a nice evil lair_, I thought as I flew, enjoying the air hitting my face the feeling of freedom it gave me. True, I damn near had to force the feeling because I wasn't used to it, but still…it was fun.

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**Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Leave a review on your way out. Tx. Abrazos y besos para todos.**

**1,**

**NY GE Pyromaniac**


	5. Burning Wounds

**Hey! Sorry it took me so long to update. Kari Lynn Craine and CanYouLoveTheImaginary, glad you two like it. Here's Chapter five. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know in a review. Tx! ****_

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**_Chapter Five:_ Burning Wounds **

_John's POV _

"So…um…. What was that whole thing about down there?" I asked Desire as she flew steadily onward behind Mags and next to me.

She bit her lip, turned to me and said, "Honestly…I don't know. I don't know why he hates me after all I've done for him along with saving his life…but that's just how it is."

She seemed to be talking more to herself than me. Maybe then wasn't the right time to bring that up. Her wounds were still fresh, so to speak, and touching them would only do more damage than good.

"Oh…."

It was eerily quiet as we flew. Just the sound of the wind howling in your ears was around and nothing else. The howling was so loud that I'd bet that if you screamed at the top of your lungs no one could hear you…. It was a scary thought: being way up high, where anything could happen and knowing that if something did happen the only way people would know is if your body fell dead in front of them.

"You ever feel like you were alone? I mean, people were around you, but you still felt like no one was where you were?" Desire suddenly asked.

I looked at her and thought for a second. "Yeah, …I have…. Feels like people all around you are going out of their way to make your life harder than it already is. And all you can do is try hard as hell to be who you are despite the hypocrites around you, but that just makes them mad."

She nodded and said, "And they always try to stop you from doing what you wanna do…. And eventually you just snap and can't take anymore of it…so you leave…."

I nodded and looked ahead. Bobby and Rogue were like that: always trying to stop me from doing something…getting on my nerves…. I can't even count the times before Alcatraz that Bobby had e-mailed me asking why I left. The long fucking letters that explained what he stood for and why he felt he needed to stop me from the things I did with the same damn question at the bottom all the time: _Who would you have stayed for?_ Honestly, I didn't know…. Maybe no one. Maybe Bobby. Maybe Rogue…maybe not. There was nothing for me at the Institute. That was part of why I left: there was nothing there and there never would be…. I needed to find something – something worth the prejudice I'd faced day after day before I got there for being what I am. I found that with Magneto. I found the power to stand up and do something about it…. I'd found my calling….

I looked over at Desire as she looked blankly ahead, thinking. Maybe I found a little more than a calling. I scoffed inwardly and scolded myself for being so gushy. I continued to stare at Desire and wondered what it was that she was looking for. Yeah, she said that she wanted payback at the humans, but who doesn't? There had to be something more that she was looking for. Maybe it was something from her past?

"Follow me close here! There're onlookers," called Magneto to Desire.

She looked up, pulled from her reverie and nodded. In a second she was at his side and flying the same path as he. This sounds kind of cheesy, but as she flew she looked so majestic. Not majestic in the sense that if you put a cape on her, she'd look like Supergirl or something, but in the sense that she seemed free and wonderful…. Cheesy, I know, but true.

We were very close to the hideout and about ten minutes later, we landed in front of the huge mansion Magneto considered a "discreet hideout".

"Welcome," he said to her, extending his hand toward the mansion doors.

"…It's really big," she said, looking at it from where she stood. She had to tilt her head way the hell back to see the roof. "How do you hide something this big?"

Magneto smirked and said, "You get more than just a thousand channels with that satellite up there."

She looked to the satellite and smirked, "What does it do? Shut off some type of radars in the sky or something?"

Mags smirked and said, "Something like that…. Come now. We need to get you settled and we need to discuss certain changes you'll have to make to your life style."

Desire tore her gaze from the satellite and fixed it on Magneto. She had a look of determination on her face. She knew what Mags was going to say to her without even reading his mind.

"First: you must forget them. Consider them enemies if you must, but don't let your judgment be clouded by them – not if you want to live," Magneto said, stone expression on his face. He'd said the exact same thing to me, word for word, when I first got here. It seems like that's his initiation rite or something.

Desire nodded and said, "Fine. Done. Now, can we go inside? It's fucking freezing out here."

Without an answer, Magneto turned and walked to the doors and opened them. Once inside, he took off his helmet and laid it on the mahogany coffee table in the living room.

Feeling exhausted and sore, I walked passed the living room and down the main corridor to my room and collapsed on my bed for a few minutes, just reveling in the relaxation. But it got too silent too quickly and before I could even stop myself, I had my Zippo out and clicking it open and closed. The _click…click…fwoosh…click_ was like a lullaby to me and soon I was struggling to stay awake. Knowing that I was expected t stay awake a little longer and see if Magneto had anything more to say about what happened tonight, I got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

For a few minutes after I'd undressed, I just stared at myself in the mirror. I had bruises on my torso where my ribs were cracked and a blackening eye above my swollen right cheek. I brought my hand to touch the tender area and immediately regretted it. It felt worse than it looked. I noticed that my wrists and, upon further inspection, my ankles were beginning to bruise. "Shit…. Fucking Mystique. She can hold a fucking grudge."

I shook my head and just stepped into the shower and turned on the hot water. For the first fifteen minutes I did nothing but let the water hit me and run down my body, washing away the aches and sores of the night and the ominous feeling that had emerged at the mention of the Mutant Isolation Law earlier.

The Mutant Isolation Law is what the "Politicians" deemed to be a permanent solution to the apparent mutant problem. If it is passed, it will allow the government to round up all us mutants and ship us off to this newly charted island off the coast somewhere near the Keys or something. Wherever it is, they've assured us and every human whose conscious was bothering them about this that we'd all fit there comfortably and we'd be safe there as long as we kept our distance from the states. When I heard that, it had me rolling. How could they say anything like that when they're not even sure of how many of us there are or even how many of us would survive the trip to this island…if it existed?

So far no one has said much about the law except that congress is 50/50 on passing it and that's with the fur ball's influence on this. I can't even imagine what would be happening to us right now if he had nothing to do with this process. I'd probably be somewhere on a crowded ship or underground train, heading to this island, dirty, hungry and cold. I'd probably be on my way to some place where they could kill us all and finally be rid of us. That thought disturbed me and I shivered, not only because of the thought, but because the hot water had run out and I was now getting rained on by icy cold water.

I washed up quickly and hopped out of the shower. I got dressed in some old clothes and went into the living room to see Magneto having a, what seemed to be very private, conversation with Pete and Gambit shuffling his cards, staring at Desire, who was now filing her nails. "Hey, anyone miss me while I was gone tonight?" I asked, startling no one and gaining only a glare from Pete. "Relax, Reynolds Wrap, you'll get your fifteen minutes with the Boss to ask him to kill me later. Right now, I'm starving and tired and sore. So, Mags, is there anything else on what happened tonight?"

"No. Not right now. Later, however, we'll be going back to Coney Island to meet up with Mystique to discuss the matter at hand…. Do any of you have any questions? Alexandra?" asked Magneto, turning to Desire and giving her a weird look.

Without even looking away from her nails she said, "_Desire_ and yes. What's this law you were talking about before? The Isolation Law or whatever? How dangerous could it really be to us?"

Magneto's eyes narrowed and he stood up. He took slow strides towards her across the room and said, "Dangerous. Imagine it like this: one day your sitting there, watching the news and you hear that the law's been passed and now the government will get everyone they have – National Guard, Army, Navy, Marines – and more to come and get us all and take us away to some place that we don't even know exists. And on the off chance that it does exist, what do you think will happen there? Hmm? Do you think we'll get candy and new comfortable homes!" He was yelling by now and his face was reddening. Anger radiated off of him as a few of the forks, spoons and knives on the kitchen counter in the next room clattered around and some landed in the living room. "No! They'll kill us off one by one and they'll keep doing over and over again until there are no more of us left! Do you honestly think they want some kind of peace formed between them and us? No! They want genocide! We scare them and they want us gone! It's as simple as that!"

Desire stood up suddenly, nodded and said, "I know! God damn it! I fucking know! You know what happened to me! You know what I'm going through and what I _need_ to do! Don't act like I don't understand what's happening to us! I'm not stupid! I can see it! I just wanted to know exactly how dangerous could this be to us when we outnumber them. I just think it's a little stupid to be too worried about the law being passed. Even if they do pass it and do what you just described, they'll never clear us all out. It's impossible! They couldn't do it to other races and they can't do it to us! You of _all_ people should know that…."

Magneto was silent and it scared me. Not his usual silent like when you said something stupid or wrong, but the kind that shakes him because what you've said is either so surprising it shut him up or so surprising that he's only quiet because you've insulted him or something close to that. He stared at Desire for a moment and then asked, "How do you know about that? Only the boy, Mystique and Charles know."

"…Lehnsherr…not a common American name…. I'm sorry, but what I'm about to say is gonna sound insensitive," said Desire, taking a deep breath and looking straight into Magneto's eyes.

He nodded and she continued, "I know you went through the Holocaust and everything and I can understand how that's traumatizing and horrifying and every word in the book except pleasant or its synonyms, but you can't let that shake you on this matter. Yes, there's a possibility that the same thing could happen here, but I wouldn't count on it and I defiantly wouldn't show that I'm being shook by it…that only makes things worse. We're greater in number and power and we have a much greater advantage over them this time around. And despite how ugly things may seem and how low the number is when it comes to people who don't hate us, it's not as bad as it looks…. Yeah, they hate us, but we hate them too…. As fucked up as it is, I know this is a war between them and us and as ignorant as you may think I am – driven only by adrenalin and hate – I'm not. I know what's at risk and I am willing to put it at risk for what I'll get if our side wins…."

Magneto stared at her, a small smile playing on his lips, and then he said, "You're preaching to the choir, Desire…. But still, don't underestimate anything…ever. Look at what happened to everyone who's ever underestimated anything…dead or a vegetable. Think clearly and properly. It's crucial as is hand-to-hand combat. Do you have any experience?"

She shrugged and said, "A little. Not so much. I got my ass kicked by blue bitch back there."

Magneto chuckled and said, "Yeah, that can't be happening a lot. I'll have Gambit teach you."

Gambit, finally tearing his lingering gaze from Desire, looked at Mags and said, "Que? Non! I could kill her, Mags. She's so small and frail looking. One kick could break her."

"What? Mira, estúpido¡yo no soy tan débil como tu crees! Así que dame un chance para enseñarte que te puedo matar si quisiera hacerlo, cara de verga (Look, stupid, I'm not as fragile as you may think! So give me a chance so that I can show you that I can kill you if I wanted to, dick face)," she said, stepping up to Gambit's face and bringing her self to his height.

Gambit took a step back and said, "What the hell did you just say? English please!"

"Bring it on, Cajun. I can take you," she said, signaling him to do so with her hands.

Gambit chuckled and said, "Fine. Tonight at eight o'clock sharp. Out in the back. Meet me there for your first lesson. Don't worry I'll bring the First Aid Kit."

"Good. You'll need it," said Desire, stepping down and smirking now. She walked toward me and received stares from all of them, Gambit's accompanied by an awkward smile. "Fiery little Cajun, isn't he?" she asked as she passed me.

I smirked and nodded. I turned to watch her walk down the hallway and randomly walk into a room and close the door behind her. I didn't know what it was about her, but there was something about that made me want to know everything about her: the good, the bad, the ugly and the deadly. I hadn't noticed that I'd been staring at the spot where she walked into the room for a few minutes and Pete decided he needed to let me know.

"Awww, how cute! Pyro's smitten over the new girl."

I felt my cheeks redden as I turned and glared at him. "Shut the fuck up!"

He and Gambit burst out laughing and chanted, "Pyro and Desire sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Haha!"

I growled and just walked into the kitchen and served myself a bowl of cereal as they continued their chant in the living room until Mags reprimanded them and made them go train in the back.

Soon Mags was in the kitchen with me and making coffee.

I stared at his back as he moved around the kitchen and wondered, _how deep do those wounds go? It's been decades since he's been through that and he's still shaken by it._

"Mags?"

"Hmm?"

"What happened during the…the…you know?"

He looked up from stirring his coffee and said, "The Holocaust?"

I nodded and looked down at my now soggy Fruit Loops.

"Something that I hope neither you nor anyone else ever has to go through ever again," he said, putting down his coffee and rolling up his sleeve. He stared down at the numbers and shook his head. "Never again…." He rolled it back down and picked up his coffee mug before walking out.

I stared after him for a minute, realizing how deep his wounds ran and that no matter how long you give them, some wounds never heal…they just keep burning….

* * *

**Hey, I hope you enjoyed it. R&R. Tx! I will update again as soon as I can. Anyway, again. I hope you enjoyed it. Abrazos y besos para todos! **

**1,**

**NY GE Pyromaniac**


	6. All Differences Aside…If I Were Your Man

**Hey! LostPhan3, Kari Lynn Craine and CanYouLoveTheImaginary, I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too. It's really long..the longest one yet! Anyway, tx for reviewing! Enjoy:-)**

**_Chapter Six:_ All Differences Aside…If I Were Your Man **

_**Alexandra's POV** _

I'd walked into some random room and plopped onto the bed in exhaustion. My body throbbed with every pump of blood that ran through me and it took all the energy I could muster up to even look around the room. Pretty fancy looking: a queen size bed, a huge dresser made of the richest mahogany wood, a bedside desk complete with computer and iHome system (including iPod), and another door that most likely led to a bathroom or something. Once I'd seen all there was to see, I let my head hit the pillow again and let the peaceful silence embrace me…. I stayed that way for what seemed like an eternity and had almost succumbed to the pull of sleep when there was a knock at the door.

I groaned and said, "Come in" I heard the door creak open and sat up.

"Hey…. Oh, my bad, were you sleeping?" said John, closing the door behind him and taking a step forward.

I smiled and said, "No. It's okay. I was just resting a little before I take a shower. So, what's up?"

He walked over to the desk, pulled out the chair and turned it backwards before sitting down. "Not much. Just bored. Wanted to know something…."

I smirked and said, "What?"

"Read my mind," he said, smirking as well and crossing his arms over the back of the chair.

I tilted my head to the side and made it seem as though I were reading his mind and then said, "Oooooh, you naughty, naughty boy."

His eyes went wide. "What?" He stiffened in his seat and immediately turned fifteen different shades of red. "What're you talking about?"

I laughed and said, "Nothing. I'm kidding. So, for real. What do you want to know?"

He relaxed visibly and said, "Remy. Why was he staring at you?" There was a definite jealous tone in his voice when he asked this and I was more than tempted to read his mind and find out exactly what he thought of the Cajun for staring at me, but I kept my self from doing so.

"Um, I think he was just wondering about me. Like who I was and why I was here other than the usual 'fight for my rights' shit. He was just asking himself the usual questions."

He nodded in a wise manner and said, "Oh. Okay. I was just wondering…."

I scoffed and said, "Yeah. No, don't worry about him. I don't like him too much, but I don't hate him either."

He grinned and said, "Yeah, the Cajun does that to ya. He drives you half insane with his nonsensical bullshit half the time, but then the other half he's alright…. I just wanted to make sure he wasn't already hitting on you…. He does that a lot."

I laughed and said, "Yeah? With blue bitch too?"

He chuckled and said, "Yeah. That was actually kind of funny…. I didn't think Mystique could be seduced, but I was wrong…. Do you know how funny it is to see a completely nude blue and scaly woman running around, looking for the number of a free clinic in the area?" He burst out laughing and brought me with him.

"Wow. I could just picture that shit…. Hey, do you know if she left any clothes of her behind. I wanna take a shower and change and I have no idea what happened to my clothes," I said, trying to think back and remember what I did with the duffel bag.

He chuckled and said, "Nah. She was always naked and blue, but I could lend you some of my clothes if you want. They'll fit you big, but at least you'll be warm. It's getting cold out anyway."

"Oh, yeah, sure. Thanks," I said as he got up from his seat and walked over to the dresser and opened a couple of drawers to get a shirt that looked to be like ten sizes to big for me and a pair of jogging pants. "I didn't know this was your room."

He smirked as he walked over and said, "Yeah, it is. Don't worry though. I'll leave so you can take a shower and change and I'll be in the living room if you need anything."

He handed me the clothes and walked to the door.

I got up, as he was about to leave and said, "Thanks. I'll be out in thirty…I'll _try_ to be out in thirty."

He smiled and said, "Don't worry. Mags won't leave without you. He needs you too much right now…. You're special to him Desire…be glad."

I smiled weakly at him and nodded before he walked out and closed the door behind him. Once I heard the click of the door closing, I walked to and through the door that led to the bathroom and started undressing to get into the bath. I had my shirt half way off when it got caught on something on my arm. I looked to see what it was and saw the charm bracelet that my cousin had given me four years ago. I tried to hold it all back and replace it with anger, but the sadness came anyway in tidal waves and nearly drowned me. Tears and sobs accompanied it as I took the bracelet and the rest of my clothes and jewelry off. I tried for ten minutes straight to stop crying, but couldn't. All I kept thinking about was my cousin and how no matter what had happened or what I thought of him or vise versa I'd miss him just because for a while he and his brothers and Anthony were all I had left.

_You need to stop. They're gone and you're never gonna see their phony asses again. Let it go,_ I thought as I wiped my eyes and caught my breath. "Never…." I shook my head, pushing them all out of my mind and got into the shower to let the cold water wash away all the pain and numb me to it all. Twenty minutes later, I got out and got dressed in John's oversized clothes before leaving his room to go to the living room.

"Hey, Cajun, you seen John?"

"Huh?" said Remy, looking up from his game of solitaire at the coffee table with a confused look on his face. "Oh! John! Right. Pyro. Yeah, he's outside, staring off into the distance again. He's always doing that. What the hell for? I dunno."

"He's something you'll never be, Cajun. Deep," I said, walking towards the front door and opening it.

Remy chuckled and said, "I bet he's thinking the same thing about you…and not in a spiritual way either, Mon chéri."

"Haha!" I said sarcastically, giving him the finger. I stepped outside and closed the door behind me, immediately spotting John standing on brick walkway, staring off into the distance. "Hey."

He didn't even turn to face me and said, "Hey. Clothes warm enough for you?"

I smiled and said, "Yeah. Really comfortable too…." I trailed off when I realized he wasn't even listening to me anymore…just staring out at the horizon.

The sun had risen a while ago and was now shinning happily as though nothing had happened today. But it wouldn't stay that way for long. Clouds were beginning to roll in from the south and would most likely have the sun blocked before noon even cracked. But at the moment the sun was making this beautiful horizon: almost like it would be at twilight only a little brighter. I could easily understand why John was staring at it, only it seemed like he wasn't staring at that but at something way off in the distance – farther than any eye can see…. He looked like he was looking at someone that wasn't there….

"Miss someone?" I asked, stepping closer to him and trying not to startle him out of the state he was in at the same time.

He nodded and said, "Yeah…those people that go out of their way to make my life harder…. Not exactly _miss_ as much as just thinking about what they're up to…. I wonder if they're still together…."

"Were they close to you when you were still with them?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I spoke mostly to them if that's what you mean…. I've never really been close to anyone…and I wasn't gonna start with _them_…."

"Oh…. Where are they? Where were you before here?"

"You'll see. We're going there later to see what can be done about this shit…. Mags will be ready in a few…." He sighed and turned to me before saying, "What about you? Where were before here?"

"New Jersey…ran from Long Island after a bad experience with the Friends of Humanity…. But before that I was in the Bronx…doing things…."

"What kinds of thing?" he pressed, walking over to the edge of the walkway and sitting on the grass.

I followed suit and said, "Being your stereotypical ghetto youth and trying to be something I wasn't while getting my ass in trouble every five minutes…." I chuckled at a memory and said, "I remember once when I was about thirteen, I'd gone to the bodega around the corner from this park I was playing handball at and I was looking for something to munch on while I played and this bitch had stepped up to me, talking shit about my cousin Edwin. So what did I do?" I shook my head and chuckled at the look John was giving me along with a small smile on his face. "I decked that bitch with a can of Pringles and shoved her headfirst into rack of Pepperidge Farm products before jacking the gold name chain she was wearing and running."

John laughed and said, "Wow. Poor girl. What did she do when she got up?"

I laughed harder at this memory because it was all I could really do now. "She'd gone to her older sister, ratted me out and her sister got her girls and came up to me later that night at this open crib I was at and tried to jump me. But my people were there and we just settled it by me giving her chain back and she had to keep her mouth shut about me and anyone I knew…. But the whole thing as a whole was hilarious now that I look back on it. I was so stupid back then. I'm surprised I didn't end up dead."

John smirked and said, "I doubt anything could've happened to you anyway. Your powers, after puberty – because they explode at that time, would've most likely helped you out…. Speaking of which. When did you realize that you had powers?"

I thought back and said, "Ummm…when I was about five or six years old and I could hear what little Ariana was thinking about little José and what she'd like to do to him. And I found I out about my other power when I was about the same age…" I hesitated on this one just because the memory of it was a little traumatizing. "…And I was walking home from school with my brother and cousin and we were about to turn the corner to our building when this dumb ass kid crossed the street on a green light and got run over by a car. She was about a year or two older than me and was still in my class at school. Anyway, I saw what had happened and went over to her when every one was all gathered around and shit and I just stared at her for a few minutes. People all around were wondering if she was dead or just knocked out…but she was dead…. I could feel it, but then I got this weird feeling in my stomach and after a couple of minutes the girl's eyes snapped open and scared the shit out of me…."

"Did anyone notice?"

I shook my head. "No. They were just relieved to know that she wasn't dead and just had a couple of broken ribs…. Hey, I meant to ask you. How're your ribs? Still hurt?"

He got a confused look for a minute like he didn't know what I was talking about and then it hit him. "Oh, nah. They're okay." He lifted his shirt to reveal some bruises, but none of them seemed too bad like something underneath the skin was broken. "It's all good. I'll be okay." He smiled and let his shirt fall.

I smiled back and said, "So, tell me. What's this place we're going to? Anywhere I'd know?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. It's Xavier's Institute For Gifted Youngsters. Run by Charles Xavier…. Heard of it?"

When I heard the names of the school and headmaster something clicked. Where had I heard them before? I shrugged it off and said, "They sound familiar, but I can't place them anywhere at the moment."

He shrugged and said, "You probably heard Mags talking about them or something. He and Xavier have been best friends since…forever. They both want the same thing, but both of them have really different ways of going about it…. "

"Uh-huh. And which do you prefer?"

"…Honestly…neither one really works…by itself. But this one is getting me closer to what I want so, this one I guess…."

I nodded and said, "Yeah. That makes sense."

Silence ensued for a few minutes and we just stared at each other. He had a small scar above his left eye and he was actually really handsome…. Okay, so I noticed that when I first saw him, but hey it's worth mentioning again. (A/N: Just because Aaron is hot.) I continued to stare at him and I didn't even notice the small smirk that had appeared on his lips after a couple of minutes and I blushed furiously when I did.

"Like what you see?" he asked, smirking broadly now and cocking an eyebrow.

I blushed even more and shook my head saying, "Shut up. You were staring too. Do _you_ like what _you_ see?"

He scoffed and said, "Maybe…. C'mon. Mags is probably ready by now." He got up and helped me up.

I shook my head and said, "Wow. I think I was safer with the Cajun." I followed him inside the mansion.

"Nah. The Cajun would break your heart in a minute. If I were your man, I'd protect you from anything that could hurt you…even if it meant keeping myself away form you," he said, turning around quickly and trapping me between him and the door by putting his arms on either side of me.

"Yeah? How would that protect me?" I asked, wondering if he was messing around or being real with this.

"I don't know. Maybe it wouldn't. It depends on how serious I was about you, I guess," he said, bringing his face closer to mine. He was so close now that I could smell the Fruit Loops he'd eaten on his breath.

"I don't understand what you mean," I said, my breathing quickening as the claustrophobia kicked in.

"Then read my mind," he said, his tone changing very quickly from normal to damn near dangerous.

I did and I heard, _can you hear this?_ I nodded.

_Good…. Look, it_ _just means that if I really love you at some point and I feel that whatever situation we're in could cause me to do damage to our relationship, I'd break it off to keep your from hurting… _if_ I were your man…._

I stared at him for a minute after that and I could feel how stupid I was looking, but I really didn't care. I knew the whole thing was just hypothetical and all, but it was making me feel something for him. That's something I really didn't want at the moment. I mean, so much was going on as it is and if I added feelings for someone onto that…forget about it…. I'll lose my mind. "Huh…. But you're not…are you?"

His eyes flashed quickly and went from something I really couldn't name to dancing with mischievousness. "Nah…but you know you want me to be…."

I relaxed at the sound of playfulness in his voice and said, "You wish…."

He made a face and pulled me off the door saying, "C'mon. Mags should be out back, waiting for us. Look even Remy's gone."

I smiled and said, "Okay. Let's go." I let him drag me by the hand all the way to the back door and outside where Mags had congregated with the other two.

"It's nice of you two to join us," said Mags. "Ready?"

We nodded and John flipped off Colossus, who was mouthing something to him with a huge smirk on his face. I was about to see what it was that he was mocking John about when I felt John being lifted off the ground, signaling me to start flying. So I pushed Colossus out of my mind and concentrated on getting off the ground.

Once I was up in the air and flying for about ten minutes, I noticed that the Cajun and Colossus were snickering and whispering amongst each other. Then I felt John tug at my hand and when I looked at him he signaled to our still cupped hands. Then it hit me. That's what Colossus was mocking him about and what they were talking about. I personally didn't care, but I wanted to see what they would do if I did something kind of bold. So, I maneuvered myself so that now I was underneath and face to face with John (like we were standing face to face only horizontally) and I said, "Follow along with me."

He didn't even need to be told twice or see what I was going to do. He just went with it and kissed me. Ever stuck a penny in the electric socket? Yeah, that's what it felt like. (A/N: Don't ever do that. It hurts. Lolz.) I wanted the joke to be on them, but it got turned on to me. If he hadn't been holding me so tightly, I would've dropped right out of the sky.

"Whoa!" I said when he let go.

He came in close and said, "You okay? You went limp and almost fell."

I nodded, a little dazed and confused but for the most part just tingly. "I'm good. Just a little…dizzy." I looked back at the Cajun and Colossus and the dizziness was well worth the looks on their faces. I smirked and looked back at John. "I love doing that to people."

He smirked and said, "Yeah, me too…. You do know that we're never gonna live that down, right?"

I shrugged and said, "Ah, who cares? So what if they think we're doing something? It'll keep things interesting and now I have something to keep me entertained during hand to hand combat training with the Cajun tonight."

He laughed and let me go so I could fly alongside him.

The whole trip was relatively uneventful except for the scattered glances back at us that we kept getting from Colossus and the Cajun. John and I didn't let go of each other's hand the whole trip and it was well wroth the numbness when we landed just because of the 'we – didn't – know – this – was – for – real' looks on the others' faces.

We landed in front of another mansion where we saw Blue Bitch (that's what I call her now) waiting with an impatient and ticked off look on her face. We walked toward her and as soon as we were in earshot she said, "I still don't see why we changed our plans or why we need to discuss this with him. It's not like he's going to help us on this."

"He has helped us before, Mystique, darling. And if it's for a good cause, Charles will put all the differences aside and help us out," said Magneto when he reached her.

Blue Bitch shook her head and said, "Whatever. Let's go in and get this over with."

"Where's your crew?" asked John, rubbing his hand and nodding at Blue Bitch. "Are they here? Or did Avalanche and Quicksilver have better things to do?"

Her eyes glinted menacingly when she looked at him and responded with, "No, they're here. They're just checking the premises to see if it's safe for us…."

John nodded and said, "Uh-huh…." You could feel the love hate relationship between those two. It's a little weird, but at least she's not trying to kidnap him anymore.

She gave him a once over and turned on her heal to walk towards the front doors of the mansion.

Magneto and the other two followed her.

"Fucking crazy ass bitch…. You gotta love her, though," said John, flexing his fingers now.

I smirked and said, "You do…I don't…." I started walking towards the mansion too, but stopped when I noticed John wasn't walking. I turned around and saw him standing there, staring at the mansion as though if he stepped forward it would eat him alive. "What's wrong?"

He didn't answer. He just kept staring.

I walked back to him and put my hand on his shoulder and instantly pulled it away when the contact made me feel what he was feeling: scared shitless, confused as hell and as though he was falling – fast and hard into a bottomless pit. "Jesus. What's in there that has you so shook?" I asked, pointing to the mansion and bracing myself before putting my hand on his shoulder again.

He tore his gaze from the mansion and fixed it on me. "I told you already…. The people who go out of their Goddamn way to make my life fucking hard as hell…they're in there. I don't wanna sound pussy or anything like that, but…. Shit!"

"What? Just say it. It's only me here. No one else," I said, shaking him a little.

"If I go in there…I may never come out," he said, looking me in the eyes with a scared look in his.

"Why?" I asked, confused.

He sighed a frustrated sigh and said, "Fucking Rogue…. God, I didn't even ask to fall in so deep…. And fucking Bobby with his Goddamn guilt trips…. _He_ did this to me!" he yelled, pointing at the scar above his left eye. "Four years ago! That Golden Gate Bridge shit. I almost died because of that fuck face!"

"Hey! Calm down! Look, I know it's scary going back to what you left behind…trust me, I do know. But just forget about them and don't let them do this to you. Fuck Bobby and his guilt trips. Fuck Rogue and what you feel or felt for her…." I hesitated, a jealous twinge in my stomach arising. I pushed it aside and kept going. "Forget it all. It's done. It's over. Don't let them control you."

He was staring deep into my eyes now and had this sort of calm/freaked look on his face. "Felt," he said.

"Huh?" I asked, calming down and looking at him.

"Felt. What I _felt_ for Rogue…not feel. Not anymore…. Not like it would've gotten me anywhere anyway…." He smirked and said, "Bobby neither…."

I laughed weakly and said, "Well, does it matter? Did she feel anything for you?"

"No clue. She never said anything. I doubt it, though. She had Bobby, why the hell would she want me over Mr. Do Good?" he said, a little calmer now.

"I bet she did…. I bet she just didn't say anything because either she was too scared or too stupid to realize it," I said, letting my hand slide from his shoulder to his forearm.

He smiled and said, "You think?"

I nodded and said, "Yeah. She's probably a trick anyway. I doubt that she and this kid Bobby got any further…even with the cure that your said she took."

He smirked and said, "Yeah. True." He continued to smile while he just looked at me and then bit his lip.

"What?"

"Ummm…. Remember what we were talking about before?"

I blushed and smiled. "About you being my man?"

"Uh-huh," he said, smiling and taking my hands in his. His hands were so warm…warmer than anybody that's ever held my hands.

"What about it?" I asked, stepping closer to him. By now I was lost to his warmth and the depth of his chocolate eyes.

He pulled me closer, still smiling his face numb and said, "Wanna know what it's like?" before kissing me softly. He licked at my lower lip, asking for entrance and I gave it to him. His tongue massaged mine and intertwined with it, causing my knees to start to buckle. He moved his hands so that they now encircle my waist and held me tight to him. We stayed that way until we both needed air and had to reluctantly pull away. "Feel good?"

I sighed contently and said, "Uh-huh. Really good." I could feel my face going numb from how big I was smiling and also how furiously I was blushing.

He smiled and said, "So, what do you say? You like it enough to be my girl?" To make his offer even more tempting, he kissed me again and damn near caused me to pass out.

"Yeah…. I do," I said, kissing him back. His mouth had a fiery taste to it like cinnamon and it was so enrapturing to kiss him. I swear, it felt like with every second I had contact with his lips I was losing more and more of my sanity and control of my body. By the time I let go of him, I was feeling like if he let go of me I'd just fall and fall and fall and once I hit the ground, I'd never get back up. Not a feeling I was used to, but hey I liked it.

He smiled and said, "You look like a rag doll right now."

I scoffed and said, "Well, it's your fault."

He helped me straighten up because in the last few minutes I'd gone form leaning into his kisses to hanging onto him to keep from falling onto my knees. "C'mon. They're waiting for us."

I nodded and started walking when I felt a tug at my hand from him. I turned around and was pulled into his arms again so that he could kiss me. "Mmmm…. Feels good."

He laughed and said, "This is gonna be like crack to you isn't it?"

I laughed and said, "Maybe. I dunno."

He shook his head and let me go so I could walk alongside him.

We reached the oak double doors and stopped for a minute.

I looked over at him to see if he was okay and saw a look of pure determination on his face. "You okay?"

He took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah. I'm good. Let's go." He was about to open the door when it flung open and the girl, Brianna, who I'd seen with the boy, John, back in Jersey came storming out.

"John! What the hell! You weren't happy in Brooklyn and now you're not happy here! What do you want?" she yelled.

Then it hit me that it was her who'd been talking about the Institute before when she was asking for directions. I moved out of the way so that she and the boy, John, who followed her, could pass and continue their little argument. Then I walked into the mansion….

It was like I'd walked into a whole other world. Kids with books were passing by with their feet not touching the ground or not even holding their books, but just holding them in front of them with their abilities. It was like a hidden little world of mutants in this huge mansion that look like an old rich man lived in it.

"Jesus. Same old shit…. You'd think that at least after the renovations after the invasion he would've made at least a few changes to the place," said John, looking around his former home and making a face like something smelly was under his nose. "Guess not."

"Where're Mags and them?" I asked, tugging his hand to get him to stick to his original reason for coming here.

He gestured to a hallway where at the end there was a door with a large X on it. "Cerebro, most likely."

I nodded and we made our way down the hall. "So, do we knock or what?"

He shrugged. "I never made it this far here. I wouldn't know what to do."

"Move aside, kid," came a gruff voice from behind us.

We turned and came face-to-face with man about a head and half taller than John who was already about a head taller than me and he looked very unhappy to see John. He was very gruff looking and had this weird ass hairstyle…he reminded me of a wolf with that hairdo.

"What's the magic word, Logan?" asked John, letting go of my hand and crossing his arms across his chest.

The man, Logan, growled and said, "Move."

"Nope. Sorry. Try again and this time try to look in the polite category," said John, smirking now.

Logan growled again and stepped closer to John, a menacing look on his chiseled features.

"Hey, look. The wolverine is getting mad…. Don't get mad, Wolverine. If you need help with the answer, just say so," said John.

I snickered at the look on the older man's face and just watched the scene unfold before.

"Look, just move before I decide that you're a danger to everyone here and gut your ass," said Wolverine, clenching his fists at his side and making claws come out of them with a loud _shing_.

"Use them…. I dare you," said John, playful tone gone and replaced with a dangerous one.

"Leave him alone, Logan. Don't let him provoke you," came a southern female's voice from down the hall. Footsteps followed and soon a woman with brown hair with white streaks on either side appeared at his side. "You know how he is, Logan. Just ignore him. He's just looking for attention…like always," she said, a bitter tone distinct in her voice.

John glared at her and said, "You would know all about attention seeking wouldn't you, Rogue? Running away…getting your ass kidnapped…trying to cure yourself of a so-called disease…. Yeah, I think you know all about attention seeking."

The woman looked taken aback and opened her mouth to say something, but shut it.

Now, I've never really had it out for females in general, just the ones who did something to me, but this was different. I've never even seen this girl in my life and already I was wishing I could drop kick her in the face just for talking to John. It was really confusing to me because I'd never been the type of girl to get jealous over another woman or anything, but I was jealous of her and I couldn't figure out why. I glared at her and was so tempted to curse her out mentally or just freak her out by pulling so mind game, but the sound of more footsteps coming down the hall stopped me.

"Rogue, who're you -?" came the voice of a young man who a split second later had appeared behind Rogue. "Oh…. John…."

"…Bobby…." John's glare switched from Rogue to the young man, Bobby, and was now tinted with anger, hatred and down right malice. I didn't even have to tap into his thoughts or even touch him to feel the hatred he held for these people and how easily it would be for them to push him over the edge at the moment.

So, since we really didn't to break into a fight (nor did I want to either to be honest), I stepped in between him and the others and said, "Hey, look, if you three have shit to deal with that has to do with him, do it later. Right now we're here to discuss this Isolation Law and that's it. We're not here to fight you…. Now, where the hell is this Charles Xavier?"

The young man's ice blue eyes widened a little and he said, "In there. Excuse me."

He walked passed us and to the door and punched in a security code on a number pad next to it to open it. He walked in and was followed momentarily by the other two and then us.

"Thanks…. I would've lost it really quick out there," whispered John as the mechanical doors closed behind us once we were in the room that at the moment was inhabited by everyone who'd just walked in, Magneto, Blue Bitch, the Cajun, Colossus, a woman with pure white hair, a man in a wheelchair, a boy with extremely pale skin and platinum colored hair and another one with a fair tone of skin and brunette hair.

"No problem," I said, looking around the room at these people and taking into mind how close or how far away they were and how dangerous they looked. "I don't like these people. They're…I dunno how to put it…I just don't it here. I wanna get this over with and leave," I whispered to him as we made our way to Magneto's side.

He nodded and said, "Yeah, me too," before taking my hand and squeezing it.

I squeezed back and turned to Magneto saying, "Okay. So what's going on? What does he know?" I gestured to the old man in the wheelchair, who was looking at me with a funny look. "What?" I asked him.

"Are you Alexandra Calderón?" he asked, turning his chair to face me.

I took a step back as a precaution and said, "By birth yeah…but my name's Desire. Don't call me Alexandra…."

He nodded and said, "I see. Tell me, are you happy where you are?"

I made a face and asked, "What the fuck? What the hell kind of question is that?"

"A simple one, really. Are you happy with Eric?" he persisted, his crystalline eyes piercing into mine.

I looked him over and didn't answer for a minute while I took him in. He seemed very strong for his age and as though he could jump form that chair any minute. _Is this what Magneto meant when he said that he was surprised that Charles hadn't recruited me yet? This guy is looking at you like you're some type of lost soul that he needs to save. What the hell is that about? And what's with the question: am I happy?_ I continued musing this for a minute or so until I looked into his eyes again and I felt a strong presence in my mind that wasn't my own. I jumped back and yelled, "Get out! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!"

"Calm down, child. I mean no harm," he said. Then he continued with a mental message. _Calm down. I'm not trying to hurt you or recruit you or anything…. I just want to know if this is what you really want…to be a terrorist alongside one of the most dangerous mutants in the world? _

_It's my only choice right now and it's not so bad so far…. I'm okay with this. I can leave when I want…_if_ I want to leave…and I don't…. Not now…. _

He nodded and said, "Well then, let's move onto business, shall we?"

I know he meant no harm but I still didn't feel safe with him. Just knowing that he was a telepath and one of Magneto's best friends and yet they have completely opposite views of how things should be done scared the hell out of me. It gave me one of those in between feelings…almost like I had two different people inside, thinking two different things and ones scared and the other one is just nonchalant about it…. That scared me….

Magneto, Xavier and Blue Bitch discussed the progression of this new law and where people stand on passing it.

"Congress is still 50/50 on it. Hank is trying to sway them away form passing it, but it seems that his opinion is counting for less these days…. Sadly, I think that there's not much else we can do to keep this law from being passed…. We've tried so many times to talk to them, but there's been no correspondence aside from 'we're sorry we cannot discuss these matter with you at the moment' or 'just watch the news to hear any new information'. Nothing's working," said a frustrated Xavier.

"You mean nothing _you're_ doing is working," Magneto said, a sly smirk playing on his lips.

Xavier sighed but said nothing.

"Well, now do you see my point, Charles? These vermin don't listen and won't listen to us. They don't see us as equals and they never will. You need to be forceful with them and take action to get what you want. Peaceful ways don't always work and even if they do you never get what you really want," said Magneto.

The whole room was dead quiet while they spoke. It was like watching to war masters discussing strategies. No one even dared to breathe loud while they spoke and the only one who had any kind of input in their conversation was Blue Bitch. I found it all kind of awe inspiring really.

Xavier nodded and said, "I still don't completely agree with you, but I understand what you mean…. So…. What do you propose should be done?"

"I'm glad you asked…." Magneto got this look on his face like he'd just won a million dollars or something. "Mystique is going to try to get herself into the mix over there and see what's really going on with this law: what it entails and what's really going to happen to us when it's passed."

"As if it could be worse than being shipped of to some island," said Rogue.

Magnetos turned to her with the same look he gave me earlier that day and said, "Oh, it can, my darling. Say that island doesn't exist…and they're just trying to exterminate us by taking us to some sort of concentration camp and starving us to death or just letting us die by over crowding us there…. It seems like no one would do that in this day and age, but you need to realize that they fear us because we're different and if they can do anything to stop that fear…they will do it no matter how bad it is…."

Rogue, stunned, shut her mouth and kept quiet for the rest of the day while Magneto explained what Blue Bitch would be doing and once she had the information that we'd be deciding what to do then.

About an hour later we were leaving the mansion, accompanied by Blue Bitch and her crew, and walking down the pathway to the gates when we heard an explosion of noise coming from the right hand side.

"JOHN! JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT! DO YOU WANT TO LEAVE OR DO YOU WANT TO STAY?" came the voice of that girl Brianna as she made gesticulations at the boy, John.

"FINE! I WANT TO FUCKING LEAVE!" he yelled back.

"FINE!" she yelled before turning on her heal and walking towards us.

"What is she doing?" asked the pale boy with the platinum colored hair.

"Shh! Don't worry. This is a good thing," said Magneto.

The girl reached us and asked, "Do you know where the nearest hotel is?"

"No. But if you need a place to stay…I can help you out if want," said Magneto, cocking an eyebrow and standing stalk straight as if he were doing business.

She said, "Yeah, that would be great. My boyfriend – he's so fucking picky. He didn't like Brooklyn because it was too boring for him considering out situation. Now, he says this place is too goody-goody for him. I honestly don't care. I just want a place to live."

Magneto smirked and said, "Lovers' quarrels…. Well, I can give you am place to stay…on one condition."

She sighed and said, "As long as you're not some time of PIMP, I'll do it."

Magneto laughed and said, "No, of course not. But I do want to recruit you and your boyfriend into my Acolytes…. What is your ability, child?"

She cocked an eyebrow and said, "I can distort gravity around me for up to a range of a mile."

"And…John, was it?"

She scoffed and said, "Yeah. Um, he's like a chameleon. He can blend in with things around him…. He calls himself Chameleon."

"How original…. And what do you call yourself?"

"Brianna…but he calls me Newton II. I know it's wack, but hey I think it's funny," she said, laughing at her name.

Magneto smiled and said, "At least it's a little original…. Well, come along then. If you have anything you want to bring, bring it and get your boyfriend."

"Nah, we're haven't gone shopping yet, we just got here today," she said, turning on her heal and walking towards her boyfriend. "C'mon! He gave us a place to live. Get your ass over here."

He started walking towards her and they met half way and started hugging, and kissing and whispering things to each other and when they got back to us, they both had huge smiles on their faces.

"Ready?" asked Magneto, looking at the two kids (couldn't have been older than me) and an eyebrow.

They nodded and Mags lifted himself, them and the others (minus Blue Bitch and her crew) into the air and started flying.

"I'll be up in a minute," I said to John when he gave me a questioning look.

He nodded and let himself be maneuvered by Mags.

I looked back at the mansion and thought, _why does he care? What does he want?_ I sighed in defeat, figuring that I'd never know and just floated upward and caught up with Mags and them…. _Don't stress it…. If something goes down, just handle it. Don't stress it…._

"You okay?" asked John, pushing loose strands of hair out of my face and stroking my cheek.

I leaned into his warm palm, smiled and kissed it. "Yeah. I'm okay. Just feeling a little stressed…."

He got a serious look on his face. "Xavier?"

I nodded and said, "Yeah…. Magneto had said that was surprised that he hadn't recruited me yet and you heard him about me being happy or not…. I just don't know why I matter so much to him…or to everyone else except…." I trailed off and took a deep breath.

"Hey…forget them. They have no idea what they lost. I've known you less than twenty-four hours and already I can tell they had no idea what they had or what they've lost…. Just know that you're not alone in this. I know it's weird feeling that you're important to everyone else except your own family, but who knows? Maybe they'll come around…."

"And if they don't? Then what? I have the whole damn after me for what I can do and my family – my own flesh and blood doesn't give a shit if I die," I said, my voice cracking and my eyes welling up again. "I hate the feeling that I'd give and do anything for my family and they still don't care and I don't have to do anything for the others and they're still fawning for me. Two of the strongest mutants of the world both want me on their side…and my own brother can't even say thank your for bringing him back to life and giving his ass a second chance? What the fuck?"

He shrugged and said, "I dunno…. I wish I did, just so I can make you feel better…but I don't. All I can say is forget them and don't stress it. You're alive and you're healthy…. You got that…. For now you're good."

I nodded and said, "Yeah…. You're right…. I'm good…."

He smiled and said, "Good…. C'mere." He pulled me swiftly to him and kissed me, once again causing me to feel like I was about to fall out of the sky.

I don't know how, but I knew I loved him there in that moment. I knew it and it made me forget it all for that minute that he held me and kissed me softly yet passionately. It made me feel like…well like I was flying, but you know what I mean…. It me feel good…happy….

**Hey! I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know in a review! Tx! Well, I hope i can have the next chapter up faster than this one. But I wouldn't count on it now that school is starting, though I will try. Anyways, I g2g. Abrazos y besos para todos!**

**1,**

**NY GE Pyromaniac**


	7. Dreams and Fallen Angels

**Holy Frickin Shit! It's been a long time. If you're still reading this, congratulations b/c u toughed out about three months of nothingness here on my story. Anyway, if ur still here, to the pplz who reviewed up until now: TX so much and so sorry that I haven't updated in a while. Junior yr sux ass. Anyway, I hope u enjoy this chapter. I'll try to have to next few chapters up faster than this one, I promise. But until then, please R&R this chap 4 me. TX.

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**_Chapter Seven_: Dreams and Fallen Angels**

_**John's POV** _

When we got back to the mansion, Mags showed Desire to an empty room (right next to mine) and the other two new recruits to their rooms. As soon as she entered her room, which had been where Mags had apparently taken her bags this morning (A/N: Ooooo, magic), she collapsed onto the bed and dragged me with her.

"Tired?" I asked, positioning myself so that I lay above her, but keeping most of my weight on my elbows so that I wouldn't hurt her and pushing her hair back out of her face.

She nodded and said, "Yeah. I feel like I'm about to just fall out here."

"You want me to leave so you can sleep?" I asked, about to get up off of her.

She pulled me back and said, "No, actually…can you stay with me…at least until I fall asleep?" She had this sort of pleading look on her angelic face and even if I hadn't had wanted to stay anyway, I wouldn't have been able to deny her. I know it sounds kind of weird that we just started out and we're already at this emotional stage in our relationship, but you need to understand that with people like us…emotions that we give off or show are like proxy for what we'd missed out on in the past. Some people mistake this for rushing into something, but it's not. We both knew what we were doing. We both knew what the consequences of getting so close so quickly would be if one of us screwed up…but we still went for it…. Okay so it is rushing but with a nice twist to it for us.

I nodded and said, "Yeah, of course," before repositioning myself so that now she lay at my side and had her head buried in my chest, my left arm wrapped protectively around her while the other one was behind my head. "Comfortable?" I asked as she kicked off her sneakers and hugged my torso.

"Mhmm," she muttered, snuggling up to me even more.

I smiled at her cute position and just stared at her for a while, thinking. _God, she's so beautiful…. How can something so gorgeous be here? Stupid question…well, not stupid just stupid sounding…. How could something so innocent and beautiful and delicate be so…tortured? How can God have let her fall from His side? …. Fallen angel…that's what she was…and I caught her…. I'll be the one to treat her right…. No one's gonna hurt her anymore…. No one…. _

She stirred slightly and said, "John?"

"Hmmm?" I asked, coming out of my thoughts and focusing on her.

"How old are you?" she asked.

Random…. But I guess it was okay since we _had_ seriously disregarded all the pre-dating tête-à-tête that concerned our basic information.

"Twenty-two," I said, looking down at her as she lifted her head. "You?"

"Twenty," she said, shifting so that now she lay flat on me and her head was tilted at an angle on my chest. "Is that too young for you?" she asked, her eyes glittering slightly.

I smirked and said, "Nah. It's actually younger than what I usually go for, but then again I thought you were about my age anyway, so it's all good."

She laughed and said, "That's good," before laying her head back down and quickly falling asleep.

Listening to her rhythmic breathing was like a lullaby to me and it caused me to fall asleep right after her. I tried my best to keep from falling completely asleep so that I could wake her up about fifteen minutes before she had to go train with Remy, but this time sleep just dragged me into its nirvana of dreams…. _Warmth…fire…passion…glory…a tear drop…two then three followed by a waterfall dripping from her green eyes…pain…destruction…deceit…loneliness…cold…darkness…she was gone…faces flashing by, made of stone – uncaring…except one…more tears…searching…searching…searching…death…._

I sat bolt straight up, feeling as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice on me and saw that Desire was missing from on top of me. "Desire?" I called.

No answer.

"Desire?"

Nothing.

I got off of the bed and walked over to the bathroom to see if she was showering, but no one was in there. "Desire!"

Still nothing.

Panic struck me like a lightning bolt, bringing me out of my just-woke-up stupor and I took off out of the room like a bat out of hell. I ran down the hall calling her name and checking every open door. Normally I wouldn't have been so panicked, but I learn quickly and the fact that Mystique kidnapped me, who she loves and wants to practically kill Desire, added up in my mind and didn't equal anything good. I'd reached the living room and saw Piotr there talking with Magneto, both of them hunched over a manila folder holding what seemed to be important papers and photos. The scene would've intrigued me more had I not been so freaked out.

Magneto looked up from the folder and gave me a wry look. "What?" he asked dryly.

"Desire. You seen her?"

He rolled his eyes and said, "Honestly, John, you have the attention span of a fly. She's training with Gambit. In fact she's been out there for the last three hours with him, giving him a beating it sounds like."

"Oh…. I didn't forget, just so you know. I just fell asleep that's all," I said, beginning to walk out of the living room.

"And you let fear take over you and completely ruled out the fact that she could be training with Gambit," he said, after me.

I stopped, took a deep breath, gritting my teeth and turned around. "No, I didn't. Fear doesn't rule me…I rule it. I'll see you around," I said, rethinking what I was about to say to him and walking down the hall to the back door. I heard grunts and some _thuds_, signaling Remy's asskicking. I stepped out into the cool night air that's only felt around here around this time of year and saw Remy hunched over Desire's arm and struggling to stay standing.

"You okay, Cajun? See, I told you I didn't want to hit you that hard," said Desire, helping stay up and walking him over to the side bench on the patio.

"I'm fine. Just tired is all," said Remy, sitting down and leaning back on the bench as Desire walked over to me. He made a face of pure agony as soon as she turned her back.

I smirked and embraced her warmth as she buried her head into my chest. "Mmmm. Miss me?" I asked, taking in the sweet cinnamon scent of her hair.

She murmured a soft 'yes' without even looking up, just wrapping her arms tighter around me.

"Tired?"

She looked up at me, a sparkle in her eyes and whispered, "Not really. I actually wanna kick his ass a little more before I come back in."

I snickered and Remy said, "I heard that. Come on. Let's go one more round and whoever wins that one, wins 'em all."

"Fine," she said, turning around and shaking the hand that he had extended.

He got up and followed her to the 'arena' and took a fighting stance.

She followed suit and took a deep breath. For a minute she looked completely relaxed and at ease with herself and her surroundings. It was almost as if she were shutting off the rest of the world to herself, except for this little area. Remy looked sort of the same way, except his face was twisted into an angry expression whereas Desire's was blank save for the sparkle in her eyes. The whole thing looked like a scene that would come out of a mix between some Jet Li movie and any other fighting movie that's been a rip off them.

"Ready?" he asked.

She nodded and without any kind of warning of doing so, she launched a flying roundhouse kick at him and almost made contact, but Remy's catlike reflexes aided him and he caught her kick and turned it around on her. She fell back a little bit after this, but came back twice as hard in a few minutes when Remy began to show signs of tiredness. But this time instead of kicking, she came at him with a series of punches and half swats half slaps. As soon as she got him disoriented, she took the opportunity to land a nice right hook to his face, knocking him down.

"You okay?" she asked after a moment of silence.

More silence and then a loud groan. "Jesus Christ! I thought you were supposed to be an easy beat. How does something so little hit so fucking hard?" he yelled, sitting up.

Desire smirked and said, "¿Ves lo que pasa cuando me molestas? Ya, jamás me digas que tú eres mas fuerte que yo. (See what happens when you bother me? Now, never again tell me that you're stronger than me.)

"English!" he yelled as she turned and walked toward me.

"Don't fuck with me, asswipe," she said, walking with me inside. When we reached her room, she turned on her heel and asked, "You okay?"

It caught me by surprise so I stared at her for a minute before asking, "Huh?"

"Are you okay? You seem a little frazzled by something," she said, gently placing her hand on my shoulder and turning that sparkle in her eye into a worried shine.

I placed my hand on top of hers and said, "I'm all right…just a little freaked about a dream I had. No big deal."

"You too?" she asked, grabbing my shoulder tighter.

"What do you mean? You had a freaky dream too?" I said, using my other hand to go around her and open the door so that we could go inside and talk in private. No one needed to know that we were being freaked out by dreams.

She stepped into the room and said, "I had a weird ass dream right before Remy came in and woke me up for practice…."

"Yeah? About what?" I asked, closing the door behind me and walking with her to bed.

"I don't even know. All I remember is that I was in D.C. and waiting for something to happen (not sure what) when I heard gunshots and then all of a sudden an extreme feeling of sadness came over me and then I was all alone in this weird room that had gruesome looking tools on the walls. Some guy walked into the room and said something and then took out a weird collar thing, put it on me and then pulled out a knife. That's when Remy woke me up."

I was staring at her with a look of shock and I could feel myself going numb with every second that passed. I had to force my mouth to open and move so that I could say what I said next. "That's all you remember? No deaths? No tears?"

She shook her head, giving me the same look I was giving her now and then asking, "Why? What did you dream?"

I shook my head and said, "A shit load of things. There was fire – there was ice! There was glory and death. I don't know what the hell it means and now yours added onto it just makes it more confusing because I get the feeling that they're linked, but I don't know how." I was freaking out completely now. Figuring dreams out was never my strong point and I've always had these kinds of dreams, but they've never bothered me this much until now.

"Hey. Calm down. Calm down. I know it's scary, trust me. Right now all I want to do is get as far away from this dream as possible, but I can't and neither can you. So, we have to just forget it and keep going with this government shit…. Man, if my dream had taken place anywhere else I would've been fine, but this D.C. crap scares me…. Where was yours?"

I tried to remember if there was a location in mine and I couldn't so I shook my head. "I don't know…. Anywhere, I guess. It was just like one of those dreams that have no setting…it's just visions and shit."

"Oh…. That must be even scarier…not knowing what to hide from…being surrounded by it when it's nowhere near you…."

I know it sounded confusing, but it made sense to me. I nodded and pulled her into a hug after a few minutes of staring into her fearful face.

She was shaking slightly for a minute but then she stopped and then pulled back just to kiss me. When she pulled away, she smiled and shook her head.

"What?"

"It's weird."

"What is?"

"How I can love you already when I've only just met you," she said, blushing slightly.

I smiled and pressed my forehead against hers. "I don't know. But it feels good, so let's keep at it. "

She smiled and kissed me again. She kisses like an angel – if that makes sense. So soft and sensual, so sweet, innocent and daring all at once…those were her kisses. Soon she had me on my back and was straddling me.

I hadn't even realized that time was passing as we lay on the bed just going at it for about an hour, I guess. I only realized that it was getting late when she said that she needed to shower and then go to sleep, earning a groan from me.

"All right. I'll see you tomorrow, then," I said, getting up and fixing my shirt. It was 1:15 AM. Late, but still early.

She nodded, kissed me one more time at the door and said, "Goodnight."

"'Night."

I went to my room and went straight to sleep, having no fucking idea about all the freaking hell that was going to break loose the next day….

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**I hope you enjoyed this one. Let me know what you think, all right? TX so much for reading this and goodnight. Abrazos y besos para todos.**

**1,**

**NY GE Pyromaniac**


	8. Hell On Earth

First off: wow! Almost a year since I last updated and yes, Brianna I know how pissed you are b/c of that. But, it's good I promise. I hope ya'll enjoy this chapter. Let me know if you do...or don't. :) Enjoy!

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**_Chapter Eight_: Hell On Earth**

**_Alexandra's POV_**

Sleep didn't come as easy that night as it had that afternoon – I was too worried about what my dream meant…and John's…. I knew I really shouldn't invest in that whole Santaria dream oracle nonsense, but it's hard when you grow up with that kind of stuff and believing in it…. What could they possibly mean? Why was I about to be cut? What was with John's vision of glory and death? I had absolutely no idea…. To top it all off, I was having a little bit of trouble keeping to my word about not caring about my family anymore…. I didn't want to let John know because he'd probably think the wrong thing of me, but at one point in my dream, I'd seen my brother run after him into a large building and then heard a horrible screeching sound that was followed by a siren like they used in the old days to signal an air raid warning or something…. I tried not caring and all that got me was an ass beating from Remy in the first fifteen minutes of training, so I let go of everything I felt and just…was…. Strange, I know…but that's how it was. I couldn't not care anymore…so instead I held steadfast to thinking of them every once in a while….

Finally at about three in the morning my eyelids were just too heavy to hold open anymore and I fell asleep for what felt like about twenty minutes before a loud roaring filled my ears. I shot up in bead and opened my eyes to see a bright light spilling through my window.

"What the fuck?" I got out of bed and bolted over to the window to see what the light source was. It seemed to be coming from some sort of large, rumbling machine outside that I really couldn't see too well because my vision was still blurry. I squinted a bit and saw that the rumbling machine was an aircraft that was getting ready to take off. The roaring was from the engine.

_Who the fuck flies a fucking plane this late at night?_ I thought and was quickly answered.

"Eric, we can't take them – they're too young and slow and _stupid_ – especially that girl!" came Blue Bitch's voice over the roar of the engine.

"Well, stupid, slow or no that girl – even if it's only her – needs to come with us. She's the key to all of this and is going to get this done for us…."

I squinted a bit more and saw two shadowy figures, which definitely had to be Magneto and Mystique, standing on the plane's ramp. Ducking down low so as to make sure that they couldn't see me, I continued to listen in on their conversation.

"Eric, no! Sh – she'll fuck it all up. She has no idea of what's going on or how to handle it!"

"And that is exactly why she's perfect for this. Do you honestly think that when she walks into a room full of people with trinkets that can eventually kill here that she's just going to stand there with her mouth open and wonder what's going on?"

Blue Bitch looked like she wanted to answer, but must've thought better of it.

"Exactly, and you know very well that she's fully capable of handling herself with a few collar wielding CEOs…. Besides, the anger that she holds inside of her of towards _all_ of them – despite what she may say – is growing and making her stronger. She is tapping into her innate abilities and will soon be able to delve fully into her reservoir of power."

"But soon isn't tonight, is it, Eric?"

"No…. But you'd be amazed at what a person can do when put under duress."

She gave him a strange look and smiled. "Her brother?"

He didn't answer. His eyes, for half a second, seemed to flicker toward my window so I dropped completely to the floor.

I held my breath for as long as the silence lasted.

Then he spoke. "You'll see, my dear. You'll see. Come. We need to execute this now. Go get her and tell her that we're going to respond to tonight's news report."

_News report? What's he talking about?_

A short silence followed what Magneto said before I heard Blue Bitch say, "Fine. But only her…. I don't want John or the others in on this. This one is hers."

"Fine. Go."

As soon as the last words left his mouth, I speed crawled (is there really such a thing?) to my bed and climbed back in to pretend that I was asleep. I didn't need her to trust me less than she already did – in fact I needed the contrary if I was going to get the story out of her. After a few minutes, my accelerated heartbeat had slowed down and I felt that I was looked as asleep as I was going to get for that night.

As if on cue, Blue Bitch walked into the room and switched on the light.

I didn't move a muscle until I felt her cold clammy hand on my bare shoulder a few seconds later. "What?" I asked groggily. I rubbed my eyes as she made her way over to the bureau and pulled some clothes out.

"Get dressed. Magneto wants it to happen tonight. That news report really pissed him off."

"What news report? I missed the news tonight. What happened?" I hopped out of bed, catching the clothes that she threw my way and started changing. Simple jeans and a tee with some Nikes was all I ever needed to be comfortable.

She stared at me as though I had five heads. "How do you miss this news at a time like this?"

"Don't give me the lecture just the news." I slipped on my Nikes and tied them as tight as I could, considering that I was probably going to be running a lot.

"Mister President wants to pass a bill that will make obligatory that all mutants be registered as mutants, be tested to see if they're _too_ dangerous to be lived with, to be put away slash executed if they are and for every baby born hereafter in America to be put through a series of tests to see if they have the X gene. Any parent that disagrees to this or has a baby that they consider, once again, 'too dangerous' will lose custody and that baby's fate will be sealed."

"Jesus…. What the hell is wrong with these people? Babies?! No! Hell no! Not gonna happen. Is that where we're going? The White House? Is that where he and the bill are?"

She nodded, a glint in her eyes. "You ready?"

I nodded and stepped out of my room and into the dark hallway. All the other rooms were closed and silence ruled it. None of the others were awake and that should've been another clue as to what was going to happen. _Wouldn't they need all the help they can get?_ As that thought whirled around in my head, Blue Bitch and I made our way down the hall, passing by my chances of staying alive as we passed each occupied room. We were at the end of the hall when a surge of panic filled me and I did what would later make a world of difference in what happened.

_Cajun! Wake up! Don't make any noise and just listen._ I felt his fear spike as I sent him the message and I knew he was awake. _I'm going with Magneto and Blue Bitch to the White House to respond to a news report from tonight…. I don't know anything else about this. Do me a favor and stay up until I get back. Turn on the news and if you see anything off key like Magneto and this bitch without me or whatever catches your eye, get the others and whomever else you can get to come here and help. _His fear spiked again, but ebbed down, signaling his acceptance of what I'd asked of him. _Thanks._

When we were finally outside, and the cold air hit me, I shivered and immediately regretted not making Blue Bitch wake John up. I shook the thought and ignored the cold. "How come there was no type of pre-bill-introducing stuff for this bill, huh? He just proposed it and that's it?"

She nodded. She was hiding something. Why wasn't she as angry as I was? I mean, nothing was coming from her – not even a little hint of fear, anger, angst or anything.

I put that feeling on the back burner as we made our way through a tangle of bushes that led to the back of the mansion, near my room and saw Magneto standing there. The wind was making his cape sway and his shadow looked like one of those super heroes from the comic books right before a fight broke out. He was every bit the super hero too…all except for the menacing look he had plastered onto his face and the rage that he emitted.

"Ready?"

I nodded. Ice dropped into my stomach when I ran through what I was going to do again. All the things that I'd grown up hearing in my life about politics and all that stuff ran through my head again and reminded me why I hated it so much. It never worked…and neither would this. This wasn't a solution to what was going to happen because there is no cure for instilled hatred and ignorance and violence and anger only provoke it…. But, even as I knew this and rued it all, I still boarded that aircraft and had Magneto fly us to Washington D. C. – all the while, thinking, _these people are going to die for what they've done to us. No military in the world can stop this anger…._

**In Washington D. C. **

It was reaching dawn and the glow of the slowly rising sun sparkled weakly over the low-lying hills of Washington. The small plane landed just outside the perimeter of the target and when I got off all I could think of was what was to come. It seemed unfair almost. The silence and serenity that permeated the area was so peaceful and yet wanton. I hated it. They didn't deserve it. So, I was going to take it away…like the FOH took it away from me that day. I snickered a little bit, reminding myself of what I used to be. Yeah, I was back and all it took was a stupid bill that warranted killing babies. _I wonder what would happen with me if it weren't a bill, but a straight up holocaust? All hell would break loose._

"Come on. We'll need to find a way to get inside without being seen," said Blue Bitch.

I rolled my eyes and started walking toward the House. About a mile or so later, the gates came into view. Two guards were standing there in a clichéd stance, guns at their hips and sunglasses unnecessarily covering their eyes. I rolled my eyes again and walked up to them. With every step I took, my anger elevated and instead of losing control like I used to, everything came into focus for me. My energy spiked and so did my mind. About twenty or so yards away from the gates, I lifted my arms and a burst of force came forth from them. The guards, who upon seeing me had drawn their guns, went flying and the gates flew open.

I stopped there and turned back to see Magneto and Blue Bitch standing there with expectant faces. "What?"

"We're just waiting to see what other ways you have of trying to get us killed."

I scoffed and continued walking. "Listen, the way I was raised was that if I ever wanted something I just had to go for it. No beating around the bush. I want this asshole dead and that's what's going to happen. Besides, it's not like I have anything to lose."

No sooner had the words leaped off of my lips than I felt a forceful tug at my hips. Magneto.

"What?!"

"May I remind you that you have _us_ to lose? If we die then you have no one to protect you or to help you…or your lover boy, John."

"Do what you want, Mags. I don't care anymore. Leave now if you want, but I am doing this my way and my way only. Besides, I can take care of myself and whomever I am with…as long as I love them enough. John has no worries as of right now." I pushed past the force that he tried to keep on me, but I felt it give way just a little after a minute or so. From then on, despite the fact that they walked with me I knew that I was alone on this. My back was my own and I had to watch it while doing what I had to do.

Soon I had reached the front door and took a deep breath. Standing in front of what symbolized American government and for all intensive purposes _was_ American government made me sick. Don't get me wrong, the right idea was once there: give the people the power, that way no one can say just one person fucked it up. But when this 'mutant pandemic' came about, everything just flipped. Not everyone had say in what went on there in that House and went in or out of it – only those without the X gene had say in anything nowadays. Hank McCoy was dismissed eight months after he was instated and from then, we had no say whatsoever in what happened to us. When had America become that? It was a sickening thought and it was what motivated me to put my hand softly against the pure white door and push with all my might to fling it open.

"Alarms have gone off by now, Desire. He won't be in his room, asleep," came Magneto's voice.

"No shit?" I walked in. Honestly, I don't even remember what it looked like now. Oak tables in the foyer? Crystal chandeliers? Maybe. I can't remember. All I remember from that moment was that I didn't even have to look for the man. His elevated level of fear led me right to him in a maze of corridors and rooms.

In a room that I only remember as being way to big for the single table in there, the President hid. He was cowering in a corner, far from his guards, who'd left him in the room in hopes of fighting us off, and clutching a cross close to his heart.

Mine twanged a little at the sight. What I was about to do was, to certain ignorant people, unforgivable…. I was one of them at the time so hesitation just took over me a little.

"What's the matter? I thought you were going to kill him," said Magneto.

I walked over to the man cowering in the corner. In that moment, everything that he was for two years prior to this encounter vanished and was replaced by someone whose faith was deeply instilled in him.

"God Almighty, protect me. Let your divinity overshadow their evil. Let no evil befall me and oh, Lord, protect my family."

Crouching down so that I could be eye level with him, I simply watched as he poured his heart and soul into his prayers. Honestly, it scared me a little bit, but at the same time it empowered me. Never before had anyone, with such heartfelt words, given me such an urge to shut someone up and at the same time keep listening. Maybe with all the fear that was surging through him I could convince him to repeal the bill proposal.

"Oh, God! Just hurry up!" he cried, clutching the cross so tight that it cut into his skin and was soon covered in blood.

"No. I want you to repeal the bill. Leave us alone…and we'll leave you alone." That was far from what I'd gone in there for, but he hit a nerve.

He just looked up at me confused and then the fear filled his eyes again as Magneto's heavy footfalls filled the air.

"Don't be so quick to negotiate, Desire. Remember that before you do so you must take everything into mind and make sure that you have the upper hand just in case no one conforms to your wishes."

I looked back at him, a little speechless. What did he think that our powers were?

"Don't think that we always have the upper hand. You must know your weaknesses to know you enemies."

"You sound like a fortune cookie."

He growled a little before turning on his heel and walking out of the room to where we'd left one of the guards leaning against a door, unconscious. I heard him open the door and a muffled groan came from the room.

"Get up. They can no longer hold you here."

I turned back to the man and gave him a stern look. "Who's in there?"

"My bargaining chip with one of the most dangerous mutants on earth. Apparently she has a weak spot for family."

Fear surged through me and the lights in the room flickered. "Who?"

He scoffed. "Pathetic."

My eyes went wide. I got up and walked over to the door just in time to come face to face with my cousin Anthony.

He was beaten and bruised across his face; his clothes were torn and there was a cumbersome-looking collar around his neck. He looked at me, the sparkle in his beautiful eyes gone and replaced by a vengeful dimness. It broke my heart, the only thing keeping me from killing the man cowering in the corner.

I cupped his face, and looked deep into his eyes, searching for at least a hint of his former self. None, but I'd get him back. I pulled him into a tight hug, which he gave back with slight enthusiasm and then turned to the President. Slowly, I walked to him, crouching down in front of him and bringing my face as close as possible to his without touching him. My senses were going berserk with the fear he was emitting and I loved every second of it. It was almost orgasmic to make him so scared.

He started his prayers again, but this time he was cut short when I snatched the cross from the indentation it had made in his hand. A cry of pain filled the room followed by Blue Bitch's snicker…and mine.

"You broke him, President. Now it'll be you that is broken."

He whimpered a little bit.

"Shut up! Don't you dare cry, or I'll make it more painful." Silence filled the air as I concentrated on all the pain that I'd ever felt in my life and pushed it to him. No sound came form him, but his face was screwed up like he wanted to cry and scream. More pain, this time inflicted upon him by sheer will to cause pain. I hated him and I wanted him to suffer. There was nothing in this world that could stop me from making him his personal hell on earth in that room. When I saw that he was nearly spent from not even breathing from all the pain that he was feeling, I stopped it. "Can't take anymore can you?"

He said nothing, just sat there, slumped in the corner, tears running down his blotchy face.

"Don't worry. It'll be over soon." This time I concentrated on his death – the worse possible death a person can go through. I made his lungs stop functioning and the acid in his stomach boil.

He burned from the inside out and suffocated. He wanted to scream but couldn't. He merely twitched violently in the corner for about five or six minutes before finally falling completely limp.

I stood up straight and looked down at the pathetic form that was the President. He'd gone way too far in his dealings. He stepped into my territory and expected not to get hurt. He'd definitely psyched himself out. "Magneto?"

"What?"

"How do I get that collar off of his neck?" I turned back to Anthony. I looked him over. The collar around his neck was the same one from my dream. But that was wiped form my mind as I saw him. His frame had thinned out like he'd been starved; one eye was so badly swollen that he couldn't even open it; his lips were dried and cracked; his wrists had markings around them – they'd been tied; his once proud posture had been reduced to that of a feeble old man's hunch; his clothes were covered in dirt and blood – most likely his own and maybe some of the people's that did that to him. For the first time in my life I pitied my cousin for his appearance. Once again, I pulled him into a tight hug, probably cracking a few bones here and there. But this time he gave it back with full vigor before I started to feel him shake with silent sobs. I pulled him tighter to me and made sure he kept his face in the crook of my neck. I wasn't going to let Magneto use his tears against him. He was my responsibility. I was going to take care of him from then on. When I felt him go still again, I let him go and gave him a kiss on the cheek and discretely wiped his eyes.

"I love you, Ali."

"I know. I love you too."

His eyes were still dark with the hate that he felt, but only when he wasn't looking at me.

"I hate to break up the love fest, kiddies, but we have to get out of here. We made our point and now all that's left is to remain alive to see what our hard work got us."

I nodded, keeping in mind that although I'd be staying with them, my only main concerns were myself, Anthony and John…and maybe the Cajun. "I still need to get this off of his neck."

Blue Bitch sucked her teeth and walked over to the table. She reached underneath it, felt around for a second and then pulled up a small remote control. She pushed one of the two buttons on it and immediately the collar around Anthony's neck opened and fell off.

"Finally," he said. He brought his slender hands up and conjured a feeble little ball of light.

"So that's what it was doing to you?" I bent down to pick up the collar and examined it for a minute. "This things shuts down our powers, doesn't it?"

Magneto nodded. "Take it, we may need it."

"Why? It can only be used against mutants."

"In its current state, yes. But if I modify it using some of my old plans, it can be used against the humans."

"Keep the original settings, though, Eric. There _are_ traitors out there."

He nodded before taking the collar from me and walking out of the room. Blue Bitch followed him.

"Do we have to go back there with them?" said Anthony like a child would ask his mother if he had to go to school that day.

I nodded. "But only for a little while. Then you, John and I will leave."

"For where?"

"Anywhere but there. We can't be with them."

He nodded and walked out of the room and I quickly followed, feeling the guilt of the dead man in the corner starting to cloud over me.

We got lost in the House for a couple of minutes, but eventually we made it out. Relief was ours for only a second before the shots rang out.

I scanned the land around us and saw military men and women surrounding us, armed, aiming and firing. As soon as the first shot cracked the early morning silence, I reacted and pulled Anthony with me back inside, leaving the other two to fend for themselves. I locked the door to try to buy at least a millisecond and grabbed Anthony by the shirt, pulling him through the maze again. Faster than I could even count to ten in my head, we were at the back of the House and clear for escape, which made no sense to me at all. Why weren't there soldiers everywhere?

However, I didn't question it then. I only ran. And ran and ran and ran and ran until I couldn't feel my face, legs, hands or anything. We'd reached some type of clearing near a brook. Anthony sat down at the base of a tree to breathe.

"We can't stop for long. They'll find us."

"I know." But I couldn't run anymore and eventually I joined him on the ground involuntarily. My legs had given and soon after, so did my mind….

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Yeah, I know. Long. But if you made it this far, it must mean something. :) Please review on your way out and come back for the next chappie. 

- NY GE Pyromaniac


	9. Death Comes In Numbers

**Hey pplz, here you go. Last chapter of this installment. It has a lemon in it, so for the easily offended: be careful. R&R. Thanks, Enjoy!**

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**_Chapter Nine_: Death Comes In Numbers**

_**John's POV**_

The Cajun came barging into my room at six in the fucking morning, interrupting my wet dream about Alexandra and saying something about Magneto and Mystique and the White House. He was talking way too fast and way too much for the time that it was.

"Huh? What about the White House?" I asked, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

He let out an exasperated sigh and said, "Magneto and Mystique took Desire to the White House to respond to some news report and she asked me to keep an eye open for anything strange on TV about it until she got back. Well, I just saw a breaking news report of the White House being shot at by our own military! One camera, don't ask me how, got close enough to zoom in a little and show that Magneto and Mystique were right at the front door and so was Alexandra with some guy for less than a second before going back inside. I didn't watch to see what happened to Mags and Mystique, but I don't think it's anything good. Now, c'mon! Get up, get dressed, and grab your lights and emergency lighters – all of them because we're out of here for good. If you need to bring anything else, make sure that is _absolutely necessary_ to survival." He turned to leave and then turned back. "Oh, and dress warm…. I don't know where we're going, but we're gone."

He didn't even stop to breathe. Neither did I afterward as I threw the heaviest jeans and sweater that I had in my drawer on over the clothes I was already wearing, ran all over my room trying to find every single lighter I ever brought into the house and forgot, and jammed every single bottle of lighter fluid I had into my pockets. Once I was sure that I had _my_ essentials, I stood in the middle of my room trying to think of anything that Desire would need me to bring for her when we found her. I tried not to think too much of her because each time I did, the worse case scenario played out in my mind and I wanted nothing more than to be back in bed with her, holding her warm body against mine and smelling her sweet hair as we fell into a deep sleep. That was nice and all, but not what she needed. She needed someone who could act and think fast on his feet…. Still, warmth would be welcome. I turned on my heel toward the dresser and rummaged through it looking for another heavy sweater and all I found was my dragon fire hoodie. It was my favorite – despite the fact that it had been given to me my by Bobby my last Christmas at the institute. Twirling, twisting blue flames traveled the lengths of the black sleeves and intertwined at the dark blue chest forming the face of a dragon. I shoved the sweater under mine so that I would have free hands and left the room in a horrid state…one might have thought that I'd be returning, but no.

Gambit was already in the hall with a sleepy looking Brianna and John by his side, opening several packs of playing cards and sticking them in every pocket of his trench coat. "You ready?"

I nodded, flattening the bulge that the sweater was creating. _I should've folded it_.

Not even ten minutes later we were about half a mile down from the mansion, running at breakneck speed. We weren't running to anywhere in particular yet, but just passing by houses and trying to determine which one had the fastest looking car that was at the same time easy to steal. We stopped running at this quiet looking little house that had a sports car parked in it driveway. Perfect. Gambit, being the expert that he was in this field had the car unlocked and started in less than five minutes. In another five minutes, we were heading toward D.C. and each panicking for our own reasons.

Gambit would never admit it, but he'd grown fond of Desire and was probably trying hard to keep his feelings for her at bay when he was around me out of respect for our relationship: we didn't really get along, but we had each other's back. He'd never even dare to hint at liking her while she was with me, and even if we were to break up, he'd wait a while before going after her. Gambit cared for her already and was hiding (very well might I add) a freak out fest while blazing down the road.

The new kids Brianna and John were, once again, fighting (this time about some old problems they had before they joined us) and at the same time were freaking out. This was their first real mission/escape and they could barely control their powers. Amateurs. The Cajun would probably drop them off in some town on the way, give them a fifty and tell them to disappear off the face of the earth for their sake. Poor kids…coming into their own in a world that despises them….

I knew the feeling well and I wasn't going to deny the fact that I felt sorry for them. But I was more worried about Alexandra, and having these amateurs on this mission was dangerous. I preferred that they felt neglected by their own kind than jeopardize our aim. Alexandra. There wasn't a single doubt in my mind that I loved her. Not one. Maybe I was too far gone to even realize that there was no way for me to express what was going on inside of me except to let it run though in my head, but I guess it was for the best. A million and one times the same scenarios played out in my head: we'd reach D.C. just as she and whoever she was with reach the point of complete exhaustion; I put the sweater on her to keep her warm and hold her until she falls asleep, which isn't long and then as things start to calm down we head back to the car; but, as we reach the car a barrage of soldiers comes at us with their machine guns and Alexandra, just barely asleep, is their target. She hadn't been in the sweater long enough for her body to heat it through when it's covered in her blood. She gets shot and dies right their in my arms…. My throat tightened, my eyes stung and my blood boiled. I couldn't let that happen. I fidgeted in my seat, trying desperately not to jump out of the car and see if I got there faster on foot.

Gambit saw me fidget and said, "We'll get there in time, John, don't worry."

John? He never called me John. Oh, he was freaked. I knew it wasn't the time for jealousy, but the fact that I knew then that he too probably loved Alexandra did it to me. But I put the feeling aside and concentrated on Alexandra. As soon as I got there, I'd grab her, gunfire or no, and run like hell. She wasn't going to die in my arms and not by the hands of a bunch of ignorant humans. No.

Hours passed like snails. The car hummed along the horizon, quietly. Then it kicked in. My hatred of uncomfortable silences took over me and I pulled out my little shark Zippo. _Click, click – fwoosh! Click, click – fwoosh!_ _Click, click – fwoosh!_ The familiar sound was supposed to bring me comfort, but only succeeded in bringing me anger and regret. Why hadn't I killed the cops at Boston and made a point? Why didn't I just pull my leg away from Rogue? _None of this would be happening if I had…._ That thought resounded in my head for less than a second when another one pushed it out. _There was no way in hell that you alone could've stopped this and even if you could've, remember that you wanted a war to end it all – to decide who actually is stronger…. Then along came Desire and though you'd never say it out loud, you got confused and weren't so sure that you wanted a war now that someone you cared about was at risk…someone you _loved_…._

_Click!_ The horizon was a weird kind of blue. It was right at the point after sunrise, when the pink disappears but the sky's color is still actually kind of off. It was the only thing keeping my mind from whirring like crazy inside my head. Desire liked sunrises and sunsets. She'd told me so the night before while we were going it at it and trying to talk at the same time. A small smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. I tried concentrating on that moment: holding her close, brushing her lips with mine and feeling the warmth she radiated and not only when she wrapped her legs around me. That was another thought running in and out of my mind every now and then: Desire wrapping her legs around me and pulling me deeper inside of her. It's only been a few days, but I've been longing to feel her…I mean, really _feel_ her. The dream Remy had awakened me from was the manifestation of the urges I've been having. If he'd come bursting through my door a few minutes later, he'd have caught me changing my boxers instead of just pulling me out of a world of heat and sensuality. Honestly, I was a fiend for any piece of ass I could get my hands on lately due to the fact that there was none around here for 'my kind' and Desire was so close to being the next notch on my belt, but something about her was keeping me from taking her. It's not that she didn't want me to either – her hands find their way into the most sensitive places when we're making out, but I just wanted this one to mean more than the others. I figured that waiting would do that. Until then, caressing and rubbing would have to do.

When we finally made it to D. C. I jetted out of the car and ran toward the White House on the horizon. Remy had parked about a mile away from the action that was taking place there – we didn't need any more attention than we already had. Gunfire filled the air and angst filled me. If Desire was as smart as made herself out to be then she'd have definitely gotten herself far from the action as well. I was trying to look in all directions at the same time, but that wasn't working so I stopped for a minute to observe my surroundings and try to deduce where Desire was or at least try and feel for any signals she might be sending out.

"Fan out. It's the only way," came Remy's voice from next to me.

I nodded, knowing that it wasn't the smartest idea in the world, but it was the most effective at the moment since we had nothing to go on.

"What! No! We'll die." The girl was probably right, but not much was mattering to me at the moment so I ignored her and let Remy deal with it.

"Fine…. Girl…"

"Newton II!"

"Whatever. Go with John and tail him closely. Do what you can to help him out." He turned to the other John and said, "You come with me and stay behind me. If I say get down then you better have been down already. You two hear me?" They gave him dirty looks and nodded. "Now, let's go. Pyro, we're behind the House, so be attentive to what you see. When you hit the brush just follow the sound of the brook and then cross it to get to a clearing. Chances are that she's there if she's still around here. I'll go right and circle in toward there. You go left and do the same. I'll meet you at the clearing."

"I thought we were fanning out. We won't cover much ground like that."

He gave me a stern look. "We can't find her if we're dead. Remember what she was running from. That brook is really hard to cross on your own and that's what they're counting on. So you better believe that once you hit that clearing there will be soldiers ready to shoot you on sight."

"And you think she might be at the clearing?"

He nodded. "Maybe. She may have gotten further – I hope she did. But, once we reach the clearing we're rejoining because we'll definitely die. Too many soldiers for only four people."

I nodded, swallowing the bile that rose in me. Not even waiting to see if the girl was ready to go, I started at a light jog toward the left side of the area. I heard her growl and knew that she was following me only because she didn't want to die. Good. I'd need her to help me cross that brook Remy was talking about.

We looked around every which way we could and panic rose in me when nothing showed itself, not even a little squirrel or bird. The place was completely deserted. They'd probably run at the sound of the gunfire. There was still gunfire resonating in the air and I didn't know why. If Desire and whomever she was with were being chased and Mags and Mystique had either escaped or been caught, then why were guns still being fired? Had someone come to help? I pushed the question out of my mind as we reached the brush and had to crawl through bushes and search high and low for Desire and her companion. The sound of rushing water reached my ears and I knew that soon we'd be meeting with soldiers. There were none, however. I stopped about a foot and a half away from the brook at the sound of a twig snapping. The hairs on the back of neck and on my arms stood on end. I lit the little pilot lights in my hands in front of me and spun rapidly on my heel to come face to face with whatever was there. Nothing.

"What the hell?" asked the girl, Newton II, as she preferred to be called. I still had no idea why.

I shushed her and looked around for a hidden foe. Nothing moved, so I decided that maybe not all the animals had gotten away so fast. I turned back to the brook, extinguishing the flames, and was about to ask the girl to distort the gravity around us and move us over the brook when there was a loud _crack_! It was followed by a loud crash.

Faster than I could even blink, my flames were rekindled and I had a fireball ready to launch at the source of the sound.

"Stop! Wait! Isn't that the girl we're looking for?" said Newton II.

I hadn't even looked at what had happened and now was forced to. There, on the ground, along with a rather large and rotted branch, was an unconscious and soaking wet Desire and a lanky looking boy who was also soaking wet. I recognized him as one of her cousins from the night that we met.

He struggled to a kneeling position over his cousin and tried to stand, but apparently the fall had done something to his ankle. He fell back down on his backside and groaned. "Oh, _GOD_!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. It sounded like he was in an immense amount of agony.

I knelt down next to them and pulled him up by his hands. "Get up, we need to move her before the soldiers come here."

He swayed on the ground for a moment as I shifted Desire so that I was able to lift her into my arms bridal style. He then shifted his weight onto his arms and his left knee as he pushed himself onto his feet – or foot. The girl put his arm over her shoulder and helped him walk as I stood up with Desire in my arms. She was completely limp and I didn't even think she was alive. But as I watched her cousin struggle to stay afoot and watch her with a sad look in his eyes, I didn't have the heart to ask him.

For about ten minutes we backtracked to the area where we'd started looking, all of us agreeing that it was safer than the clearing. I stopped right where we'd started and laid Desire on the ground, no longer able to stand the anxiousness inside of me. I needed to know. She looked pale and upon closer inspection I noticed a profusely bleeding gunshot wound in her left side that had gone unnoticed because of the water all over her. Bile threatened to come spewing out of my mouth and I held it back as my shaking hand pushed aside her matted hair and looked for her pulse. I felt none and I couldn't hold it back anymore. I turned away from her thinking that it would be wrong to desecrate her body by throwing up all over it and retched. Shaking, I sat up again and breathed deeply, trying to keep it together for the other two, who both had freaked out looks on their faces.

The girl moved toward Desire's body and I thought that she was going to cry over her or pray or something, but she surprised me when she put her head on her still chest.

"What the hell are you doing?" I heard her cousin ask in a cracked voice. I looked up and saw tears shining in his eyes.

"She's not dead. I can hear her heart beating – it's really shallow, but it's beating!"

My stomach leaped. _Still alive? Fuck yeah! Woohoo!_ I wiped my mouth and smiled as the girl sat up. "How'd you know to check?"

"I used to be a life guard. I never had to deal with gunshot wounds, but they usually come out of the water with no pulses and almost no heartbeat. Makes no sense, I know, but it happens."

I scoffed. "Well, what now?"

She grimaced. "I can only perform CPR on her, the hospital needs to do the rest…."

"Great…. Well, let see if the CPR works just enough."

She gave me a wild look. "What? She needs a hospital!"

I shook my head. "No, listen. If you can wake her up, then she can do something herself. She can take energy from this place and keep herself going until we get somewhere safe."

She looked so confused. I felt bad for not being able to explain it better, but I couldn't wait anymore.

"Hurry up and do CPR!"

She flinched and went straight to work.

I took Desire's limp hands in mine and clenched. It was a long shot, but it needed to work. Desire couldn't die – not yet. I needed to go first. I let go of her hands and took out the sweater that I'd brought for her, set it aside and took off mine to be able to take off one of my shirts. I ripped it into strips and lifted Desire's to reveal a nasty wound. I used the first strip to clean the wound as best as I could and then dug into it to extract the bullet. Myself and her cousin, who'd caught my drift and came and helped, to secure pressure onto the wound, used the rest.

Ten minutes passed with no results from the CPR and then fifteen and twenty until Remy came onto the scene.

Brianna almost gave up five minutes after that, but then Desire coughed softly and water came out of her mouth with some blood. I sprang to my knees and crawled closer to her. I brushed her hair aside so that nothing got caught in her airways and lifted her head off the ground. We sat her up and tried coaxing her to cough again to get the water out of her lungs. Remy rubbed her back slightly and then the kid, John, smacked it.

I could've killed him, but he was lucky that she coughed more water up with more blood. She came to and went into a coughing fit. It was the best sound to me. The fit was so strong that it rocked her out of my grip and threw her onto her hands and knees. After a few minutes of coughing and throwing up water, she just stopped and stayed kneeling, shaking.

"Why was there water in her lungs?" asked Remy, walking to her as I stood up and did the same.

I wanted to know the same thing, but was to busy trying to revive her to ask.

"I had to jump into the brook with her because she'd passed out from blood loss – I think she got shot at the door – and didn't wake up to run from this soldier that had some gotten around the House and caught up to us. I let the river carry us a little way down so he'd think we were gone and that's when I guess she swallowed and took in all that water. Then when I was sure that the soldier was gone, I pulled us up to the side across from the clearing and climbed up the tree with her to try and hide…. Not the best idea, but it was the best I could do."

I turned to him and nodded. "You kept both of you alive – you did good, kid."

He looked up and nodded. "Thanks."

I turned back to Desire when I heard a sob escape her. Back on my knees, I pulled her close and held her as she cried softly. The whole ordeal must've taken its toll on her and this was the result. After a few minutes, she regained her composure and sat up on her own, rubbing her eyes with the back of her scratched hand. That must've happened when her cousin was taking her up the tree. I rubbed her back lightly and waited for her to speak.

"…. Where are Mags and Blue Bitch?"

Odd first question, but a good one at that. Where _were_ they?

No one could answer and that seemed to be all the motivation she needed to get up off the ground. She struggled to her feet and then made her way over to me. "They knew Anthony was in there, being beaten and they waited until today to let me know so that they could use me and make sure that I killed the President…. Last I saw them, they were being shot at by soldiers and stuck at the door of the House…. Anyone see anything on the news at all about him or her?"

I shook my head and looked at the rest of them. They were shaking their heads.

Her color was _slowly_ returning to her face, but she still looked very weak and pale. She was shaking and shivering as she stood there in front of me.

I remembered the sweaters and went over to pick them up. I helped her put hers on and smiled when she wrapped it around herself and inhaled deeply.

"It smells just like you," she said, smiling.

I put mine on and said, "That was the point."

She scoffed and playfully smacked my arm. Then she leaned in for a kiss. I met her halfway and we stayed like that, feeling each other's mouth – memorizing it. She tasted so sweet – even more so now that I'd almost lost her. She started to moan a little bit, and I had to pull away then otherwise, we'd soon be giving the others a show. She pouted when I pulled away, but I pulled her into my arms and whispered in her ear, "Soon, baby, soon."

Remy cleared his throat and brought the stares from Desire and I to himself. "We need to get out of here and quick. I don't like that the gunshots are still ringing out."

Desire nodded, her head on my chest. "I feel more than before."

"More what?"

"More mutants. They must've come when they heard the news report," said Remy.

I really didn't like that he knew what she was going to say next, but I ignored it, happy to be with Alexandra again.

"Great! Now, we're fucked." She buried her face in my chest and growled. "God, why did I kill him?"

"Your cousin was beaten by them, that's why. Don't ever regret what you've done because at one point it was what you wanted to do – what you needed to do. That guy needed someone to teach him a lesson – the same goes for these _humans_! The President is a warning. The next person to fuck up will be mutilated," came Pete's voice from behind us.

We all turned and saw that he was standing there with Avalanche and Quicksilver and a woman with scarlet hair. She had to be Quicksilver's infamous sister, Wanda or Scarlet Witch. "We cannot leave yet. Yes, it eez dangerous to go back now, but we need to 'elp our kind. Many mutants are sacrificing zemselves right now to 'elp zee cause and will not stop until zeir point eez made." She was Romanian and had a very thick accent. I liked it, it was cool. And though she spoke the truth, fear still coursed through me. Not for me, never for me again, but for Desire. She couldn't fight in her condition. She was too weak and was still losing blood. We couldn't go back….

_**Alexandra's POV**_

I wanted to help too and I was determined to go back and help. But the look on John's face when I looked up to see if he was feeling the same way told me that, yes, he wanted to go back too, but that he was in no way whatsoever going to let me go too.

"No…. I already almost lost you. I _will not_ lose you again."

"John, I'll be fine. I can reenergize here for a while and I'll be as good as new."

He shook his head, eyes agleam like never before. "No. I can't let you do that because if you die…I'll never forgive myself."

That got me mad. "And what if _you_ die? How am I supposed to live then? John, you can't tell me what to do! I'm going and that's it!" I stalked off away from them toward a car I saw in the distance that had to be the car they came in. When I reached it, I climbed in and lied down in the back seat, trying to absorb the energy around me. Thank God there were so many trees around.

I fully understood where John was coming from with his concerns, but I couldn't let him go without me. I'd go insane if he died when I could've helped him. The thought alone brought tears to my eyes. Along with thinking of my cousin and John and the gunshot wound in my side, all I had to do was shut my eyes through the tears to fall asleep….

I was awoken a little wile later, when it was dark, feeling much better than before, by the sound of the front door opening. It was John. I sat up and moved so that he could climb over the seats and into the back. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and faced him.

"Where are the others?"

"Trying to see how they're gonna get up there without being seen."

"Oh…."

He stared at me for a minute or two before pulling me into his arms and holding me as tight as he could.

I welcomed his warm embrace and his scent: spicy smelling cologne with a touch of lighter fluid and fire. I needed it after what had happened that day. I bit back the tears that threatened to spill at the thought of almost never seeing him again. Then I scoffed.

"What?"

"I've known you a total of what – seventy-two hours – less? And I already can't even think of never seeing you again."

He scoffed and leaned back in his seat, taking me with him.

I shifted so that my legs were stretched and I was lying on top of him. My head was on his chest and I was listening to his heartbeat. It was so loud and rhythmic and I felt my heart beating, keeping the same time as his. I couldn't hold it back anymore. I leaned up and kissed him with all the passion and love that I felt for him behind the kiss. He kissed back and pulled me up so he could get a better angle. He held my face and kissed me slowly, gently, passionately and romantically. His hands slowly moved from my face to my shoulders to my arms to my hands and then to my hips.

I turned slightly so that he could easily take my sweater and shirt off of me and toss them aside. I breathed deeply as he turned his attention to my neck, nibbling slightly, making me shiver. As he did that, I unzipped his sweater and peeled it off him. Next was his thermal shirt, which was removed to reveal a nicely toned torso that was still slightly bruised from the fall he took. I trailed kisses from his lips to his chin to his neck and shoulders down his torso and navel to his jeans.

Sensing what I was about to do, he pulled me up again and leaned me back against the seat and kissed me as he unhooked my bra, throwing it somewhere. From my mouth he trailed little kisses down to my collarbone and back up. I moaned as his mouth met mine again and gasped when he grabbed my right breast roughly and began to massage it, teasing my nipple into hardness with his thumb and forefinger.

"John…."

From my mouth back to my collarbone and this time down to my left breast, he went, taking my nipple into his hot mouth, twirling circles around it with his slick tongue.

"Nuh…." My back arched, and I grabbed onto his broad, muscular shoulders, digging my nails slightly into them. After a minute or two of being teased, I couldn't take it anymore and so I pushed him off of me and against the back of the passenger seat. I concentrated on his neck while my hands undid his belt, button and zipper. When I'd pulled his jeans off of him, I began trailing kisses down, down, down to the elastic band of his boxers. Little flames. Hehehehehe. I looked up at him, wanting to see the lust in his eyes, needing it to go forward, knowing that he loved it. His eyes were sparkling with lust as I slowly pulled his boxers down to reveal his already hardened manhood. I hesitated; a little scared of how big it was. It was going to hurt losing my virginity to him, but it would be well worth it. Pushing aside my fears, I took him into my mouth and started on a slow pace: stroking slowly, and going as far as my mouth would allow. I swirled my tongue over the tip, wanting to shock him like he'd shocked me and it worked. His hips bucked and he thrust into my mouth, forcing me to continue. After a while, he couldn't even control his breathing or what was coming out of his mouth so I stopped and let him pull me back up to kiss him.

Not even realizing that I was on my back, I gasped a little when I felt his warm hands caressing me folds, every now and then stroking my clit. He kissed me and then pulled off my panties, kissing a path from my swollen lips to my hips. When he stopped, I'd let my anticipation get the better of me and almost kicked him when I saw his smirk as he looked at me, dipping his tongue into my navel. I shivered, biting my lip. His tongue was really hot and slick, and making me wetter and wetter.

He teased his way down to my outer lips and parted them with his tongue, causing me to damn near lose it right there. Even more slowly, he delved in deeper, parting my inner lips and grazing my bundle of nerves, sending electricity up and down my spine, and making me grab his hair and pull him closer to me. He complied with my needs and began, at a normal pace, to lap at my wetness, sending me into a world of sensuality and ecstasy. Pressure built up inside of me, in my abdominal area, and all I could do was moan his name and grasp his hands tightly as they caressed my thighs.

"God, John! Don't stop. Ungh! Oh, God!" The pressure was so close to making me explode. John then decided, not to stop, but slow down and tease me again by pulling away and kissing my inner thighs and stroking my clit with his thumb…_slowly_.

My hips rose off of the seat and caused one of his fingers to slide into me, sending me into a world of pleasure that I'd never known. "Oh, God! Keep going," I told him when I saw the look on his face. He thought he'd hurt me. He was so far from it. He hesitated at first, but when I started groaning, not even able to look at him, his pace picked up and soon he added another finger, stretching me slightly.

"You're a virgin?"

I heard him, nodded and dug my nails into his forearm, unable to speak. I moaned louder and he responded by gently sliding in one more finger. I didn't think I could take much more inside of me, but I knew I had no choice with the way I was building him up here. I could clearly see his manhood damn near pulsating with anticipation and that's when it happened. The pressure had become too much for me to handle and I couldn't hold it down anymore and I released it. My body tingled with pleasure and I stayed that way for a while as John pulled his fingers out of me and shifted my hips so that I wasn't hanging off of the seat anymore. When I was finally able to look at him again, I pulled him down to me and kissed him fiercely as a thank you for giving me my first orgasm.

He kissed back with as much vigor and then pulled away. "You sure you want to do this? We can stop here if you want."

I shook my head. I couldn't stop now. He'd satisfied me and now it was his turn. It wouldn't be fair to stop now. "I'm sure. I want you…. I love you."

"I love you too," he said, positioning himself at my entrance. Knowing how badly it was going to hurt for him to enter me, he took one of my hands in his and kissed me as he pushed himself in.

I bit down on his lip, tasting a little blood, and gripped his hand, digging my nails into his skin as I felt my barrier pop as he slid deeper into me. He was going as slowly as he could so as to not hurt me more than need be and it was working. After a minute or so, he was in and he waited for me nod to keep going. He did and I truly believed that I'd never made a better choice in my life than to give myself to him.

His pace was steady: long, steady strokes – slowly at first, and then, as I started really moaning, he sped up and began thrusting harder and deeper. The pressure in my abdomen came back and I knew then that I wasn't going to last long there as I watched his face, rugged with concentration and determination. I wrapped my legs around his waist and soon began meeting his thrusts, wanting this to be about him too, instead of only me. I loved him and he needed to know that. I kissed him and grabbed his back, digging my nails in as he shifted slightly to change his angle. I don't know what he did, but now the pressure was building fast and I didn't even try to hold it back – I couldn't.

His pace quickened with each of my moans and scratches to his back and shoulders. His thrusts also became harder and deeper. Soon it felt like he was going full force into me and I was meeting him there, coming close to the edge of ecstasy once again.

"I'm gonna come," he said gruffly, grabbing my hips so tight that I couldn't move them at all and started slamming even harder.

"Oh, God! Oh, God! Oh, God! _OH, GOD!_" I screamed, falling over the edge with his last thrust, the hardest, taking him with me. I felt the pulse of his orgasm and then let him collapse onto me, burying my face in the crook of his neck. I took a moment to enjoy the feeling of being one with him, in complete ecstasy and kissed his neck. When we came down from our high, he kneeled and pulled out of me gently and used one of the shirts to clean us off. Then he handed me my clothes, save the shirt since it was ruined and gave me one of his instead, and dressed alongside me. We couldn't exactly be driving around naked with Remy, Anthony, and the others.

Once the clothes were back on, he pulled me into his arms and held me there.

"I love you," I said, meaning it to the fullest.

He looked down at me, kissed my forehead and said, "I love you too."

We stayed like that until Remy came knocking at the window and then we climbed out.

"So, what's it gonna be? Is John letting you come or no?"

"It's up to her, Cajun. Even though I don't want her to come along, I can't make her stay here." He gripped my hand in his and squeezed.

I knew he wanted me to be safe, but there was no way for me to let him go without me and be able to feel good about it. "I'm going. You'll need as much help as you can get. You don't know what's up there."

Remy nodded, giving me a funny look. Had he seen us? Wasn't he supposed to be searching for a way up there?

I pushed the thought away as he walked away and turned to John. "I know you're mad at me for going, but don't hate me."

"Baby, I just took your virginity…. There's no way for me to hate you right now."

I smiled and hugged him.

Ten minutes later, the others were back with a way of getting up to the House safely.

"There's only one way to get there and not lose time getting there. The way we just came. It's dangerous because it may be booby trapped, but there's no other way."

"Fine…. Let's go," said Remy. He was definitely angry at something. What? I had no idea.

We hiked up to the House and when we reached the brook, Brianna, floated us across it and then floated us over the House when we reached it. The inside was not navigable. Too much had been destroyed in the ongoing battle. Small explosions could be heard down below and, surprisingly, the gunfire was still going.

_How much ammunition do these guys have?_

We stood there, on the front part of the roof of the White House, watching mutant versus human on the grassy lawn that was now a battlefield. I scanned the lawn for a blue person alongside a magenta colored cape clad man, but the only blue I saw was a fur ball that was known as Hank McCoy a.k.a. Beast. I smirked at the thought of a mutant that used to be associated with the X-Men fighting alongside the rest of us for the same cause in the same way.

Without hesitation, after we'd scanned the area to see how we could be of use, John, Remy, Colossus, Avalanche, Pietro, Anthony and the scarlet haired woman jumped off of the roof into the rumble. Brianna and John stayed few seconds longer and then jumped. Big mistake. John hadn't even hit the floor when a stray dagger had caught him in the heart. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Brianna walked over to him, a funny look on her face and shook her head. "You happy now?" She then turned toward where the dagger came from and used her power to throw the thrower, a soldier, off balance and end up impaled on his own dagger that had been stuck in midair due to Brianna. She then rejoined us, a blank expression on her face.

I looked around again and saw that the lawn was split between uniforms and no uniforms. A couple years back, it had become illegal for mutants to join the military, which was the stupidest move I'd seen. I shook my head and walked alongside the others, amidst the explosions, gunshots, and flying stones.

We only stopped when a stream of electricity crossed our path and killed a nearby soldier.

I turned to see where the stream had come from and almost passed out again.

There was my brother with my other cousins, just standing there, staring us down. Here it was. It was join them or die.

I looked at John, who had a stone like expression. I took his hand, feeling a barrage of gunfire coming from behind us and pulled him toward them. The bullets barely missed us and not even a second passed when Avalanche was returning fire with his power of earth movement. We all put our backs to each other to form a sort of circle and attacked any human in our sights. Could it be called all out war then? Were there other battles like this one going on in other places too? It didn't matter. This was my battle, my war and my family being fucked with here. War or no, I had to fight it and make a mess to win.

Everything was going relatively fine (for a war between humans and mutants) until a fresh wave of military personnel came running down the lawn at us and we all scattered. I ran, grabbing Anthony, who was standing next to me, by the neck along with Edwin and yelling at John, Eduardo, Edgar, and Cesar to follow me. I wasn't going to lose them. It didn't work though. Seeing that the others had ran unprotected straight to the House, John shoved Eduardo toward me and yelling, "Get them out of here!" and Cesar bolted for the House, pulling electricity from everywhere as he went, making him look like a running lightning rod.

"John!" I screamed, being yanked back from the action by Eduardo. "_NO!_"

Eduardo finally lifted me onto his shoulders and ran, carrying me, toward the open and unprotected front gates of the lawn, Edwin, Edgar and Anthony following behind. I beat my fists against his back to put me down, but he didn't yield. Once he felt that he'd run far enough, he stopped and put me down on hard cement.

"What the fuck! What is wrong with you?" I yelled, getting up and spinning him to face me as he tried to walk away from me.

"You would've died! I rather have him dead than you!"

I smacked him as hard as I could across his face.

He stared wild-eyed at me, holding his face. Then he squinted and pointed an accusing finger at me. "You _fucked_ him didn't you?"

I smacked him again and was pulled back by Anthony.

"Stop! We need to figure out we're going to meet up with them later…. I mean, _if_ they're alive later."

That's when it hit me and I broke down. I fell to my knees and began sobbing. "NO! NO! NO! John! No!"

My sobs filled the air and soon my cousins surrounded me, hugging me and gripping tightly to me, in fear, sadness and heartbreak.

We stayed like that for a while. A family, united in grief: the most fucked up yet beautiful thing that could take place. Why? I didn't and still don't know. All I knew was that it wasn't over. I could still feel John's hands on me, caressing me. I could still hear his heartbeat and I could feel my brother's anger boiling in the air. It wasn't done. Then all at once, there was a huge explosion from the direction in which we'd ran from and a burst of heat that hit us hard came from that way, followed by _complete_ silence. Nothing was left. Nothing. Not a single sound could be heard and I couldn't feel or hear John or my brother anymore….

They were dead…. Right?

TBC

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**I hope you readers enjoyed it. Let me know, aight? XoxO.**

**1,**

**NY GE Pyromaniac**


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